India announce 15-man squad for World Cup

The Indian squad was announced by captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Tuesday morning in Kandy, where the team has been participating in the Asia Cup.

KL Rahul makes his way back into the side, having injured his thigh earlier in the year during the IPL tournament and will likely join his India teammates near the final stages of the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. 

However, his return comes at the expense of the impressive wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson. 

The final squad is similar to the one for the current Asia Cup excluding Tilak Varma and Prasidh Krishna. 

India have gone with eight bowling options including all-rounders, with seamers Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Hardik Pandya as well as spinners Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav.

Captain Rohit Sharma will lead the team with the bat, with Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan being the other specialist batsmen. 

Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur will share the responsibility of being all-rounders for the Indian side which is looking to regain the title they last claimed in 2011.

The World Cup is set to begin on October 5 where 2019 finalists England and New Zealand will compete at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which is the same venue which will also host the final on 19 November.

India will start their campaign against Australia in Chennai on 8 October.

Full squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.