World Cup: Doors are still open for Ashwin, he can be included in the World Cup team, captain Rohit gave hints

Even though Washington Sundar was included in the Indian team as a replacement for Axar Patel, Rohit said that veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is also in India's plans as a spin-bowling all-rounder. That means Ashwin still has a chance to play in the ODI World Cup. The ODI World Cup is going to start on October 5. World Cup matches will be played on 10 grounds in India.

The captain said in the press conference after winning the Asia Cup title – Ashwin is also in the plan as a spinner all-rounder. I am talking to him on the phone. Akshar was injured at the last moment. Washington was available, so he had to come in and fill a role for us. Sundar was immediately fit to play the match as he was part of the Asian Games training camp (in Bengaluru). I am very clear with the players about their roles. Everyone is in the loop.

What Rohit meant to say was that Ashwin is currently at his home in Chennai. He has not been a part of any training recently. If the team management wanted to call Ashwin, he could have been called on an SOS basis with the flight from Chennai to Colombo being less than an hour. However, Ashwin's fitness proved to be a negative point for him. For this reason, a chance was not given. However, if Akshar is out, Ashwin may get a chance as Sundar will leave for Hangzhou for the Asian Games. It would be a great surprise if Ashwin, who has not played any ODI for more than a year, gets a place in the team.

Ashwin last played an ODI match against South Africa in January 2022. In the press conference after winning the title, Rohit talked about the health and fitness of star all-rounder Axar Patel and batsman Shreyas Iyer. Rohit said left-arm spinner Axar Patel is likely to miss the first two ODIs against Australia next week, while middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer is 99 percent match-fit.

Akshar suffered a strain in his left quadriceps during the Super 4 match against Bangladesh on Friday and was ruled out of the Asia Cup final. Washington Sundar was included in India's Asia Cup squad as Akshar's replacement. Given his injury, it was expected that Akshar might be out of the ODI series against Australia and his playing in the World Cup might also be doubtful. The worrying thing is that the MRI scan has revealed that he has a serious hamstring injury.

Rohit did not seem very confident about the speed of Akshar's recovery. After the match, he said- Akshar was hurt. It feels like maybe it will take a week or 10 days to heal, I don't know. We will have to see how the injury situation is. Some people recover quickly and I hope the same happens with them. Rohit said, "I don't think whether he will be able to play the first two matches against Australia at home or not, but we will wait and see how the situation develops."

Shreyas Iyer suffered a back injury before India's Super 4 match against Pakistan and has not taken part in any Asia Cup match since then. However, Iyer batted in the nets recently and also did fielding drills. Rohit said that Shreyas did not meet certain criteria set to play the match, hence he was not included in the final 11 for the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka.

Hitman said- Shreyas was not available for this match because some criteria were kept for him. I think they accomplished most of it. I must say he is 99 percent fit as of now. He is looking good. He batted and fielded for a long time and was on the field long before we arrived. I don't think it's a matter of concern for us.

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