Sanju as wicketkeeper, Suryavanshi in, Jaiswal out: Uthappa’s 2027 World Cup picks

NEW DELHI: Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has predicted his 15-member squad for the 2027 ODI World Cup, to be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Uthappa has described his selection as a “bomb squad”, with young batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi also finding a place in his team.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, Harshit Rana and Washington Sundar, who have been part of India’s recent ODI squads, have been left out.

Uthappa has picked Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma in his batting line-up.

Experienced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have also been included. Bhuvneshwar has not played an ODI for India in more than four years.

Sanju Samson has been picked as the wicketkeeper, with Uthappa preferring him over Ishan Kishan. Uthappa cited Samson’s ability to bat at the top of the order as well as play the role of a finisher as one of the reasons for his selection.

The all-rounders in Uthappa’s squad are Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. The pace attack comprises Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh, while Kuldeep Yadav is the specialist spinner.

Uthappa’s 15-member squad: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh.