Jaydev Unadkat in India's 19-member likely core group for Asia Cup & Cricket World Cup 2023 - Reports

Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat will be the contenders for 4th pacer slow in India’s World Cup 2023 squad.

The national selection committee will have the tough task of choosing between Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat for the extra fast bowler’s slot in the 15-member India squad for the World Cup, starting October 5.

As per ICC rule, every team has to submit its initial squad of 15 by September 5 but the final submission can be done by September 27, and a country is allowed to make as many changes as possible between the initial and final submission.

Both the players recently traveled to West Indies and performed admirably well and it is expected that they will get ample opportunities to prove themselves as India will play ODIs in Asia Cup 2023 and against Australia at home.

Shardul Thakur has played 38 ODIs, 10 Tests, and 25 T20Is for India and in the 50-over format, has picked 58 wickets with a best of 4/37 to his name. He recently performed extremely well for India in three ODIs against West Indies, picking 8 wickets.

Jaydev Unadkat, on the other hand, played his first ODI in ten years and thus far has 9 wickets in 8 ODIs.

Shardul Thakur has the quality and performance; while Jaydev Unadkat has the advantage of being left-arm pacer

As per a report in PTI, the extra seamer’s slot is a huge bone of contention for the BCCI selection panel. Jasprit Bumrah is coming back from a lower-back stress fracture but even at 80 percent fitness, Bumrah will be playing the World Cup and so will Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.

The reserve pacer’s position becomes crucial since Hardik Pandya fills the fourth fast bowler spot and is anticipated to bowl at least six to eight overs per game if not as many as ten.

In terms of performance and quality, Shardul is way ahead and has again proved his mettle in the Caribbean with eight wickets in three ODIs but Unadkat’s advantage is being a left-arm seamer in this set-up.

Unadkat is also above Arshdeep Singh in pecking order, as the Punjab pacer has been chosen in the Asian Games squad, which clashes with the dates of the World Cup.

Closer to the World Cup, the report indicated that if all specialist bowlers are healthy and available, the tie-breaker will be between Mumbai’s Shardul, a seam bowling all-rounder, and Saurashtra’s Unadkat, a left-arm medium pacer.

The think tank will stop experimenting after the three-match series against the West Indies, and if sources are to be believed, they have settled on the core 18–19 players for the World Cup, of whom 15 will be selected for the actual competition.

India’s likely core group for Asia Cup 2023 and Cricket World Cup 2023:

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya (Vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (Wk), Axar Patel, Sanju Samson, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mukesh Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal

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