Shikhar Dhawan Returns, No Place For Yuzvendra Chahal: Ex-India Star's Picks For ICC World Cup 2023 Squad

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer believes that Shikhar Dhawan could be a good addition for the ICC World Cup 2023 but excluded spinner Yuzvendra Chahal while picking the likely squad for the tournament. Jaffer also included KL Rahul and Sanju Samson as his wicket-keeping options but Ishan Kishan was missing from his list. In the bowling department, Jaffer picked three spinners but all of them were left-arm options with Kuldeep Yadav potentially making a comeback in his selected squad. India will play their first game of the competition against Australia on October 8 in Chennai.

"My three openers will be Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan. Even though Shikhar Dhawan is not going to be picked, I will keep him as the backup opener. Even if he doesn't play at the start, I am okay with that," Jaffer said on Jio Cinema.

"After that, Virat Kohli at No. 3 obviously. Shreyas Iyer at No. 4, KL Rahul at No. 5 and Hardik Pandya at No. 6. Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav will be my three spinners in the XI," he added.

When it comes to the pace attack, his choices were somewhat on the expected lines.

"In my XI, I will have Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj/Mohammad Shami. I will play two seamers - Bumrah and Siraj. For me, it is very important that Hardik Pandya bowls because the World Cup is in India. Even if he doesn't bowl 10 overs and bowls seven-eight overs, it's enough for me."

"If he bowls, I will definitely try to play three spinners and I will definitely play both Axar and Jadeja because they are all-rounders. My third spinner will obviously be Kuldeep. My fourth seamer will be Shardul Thakur. Sanju Samson will be my backup keeper because I have already picked Shikhar as my third opener," he concluded.