Dinesh Karthik Picks India's World Cup Squad; Gautam Gambhir's Favourite Snubbed

Dinesh Karthik (L) & Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill (Source: AFP Photos)

India's World Cup Squad for the upcoming edition will be a major talking point in the coming months. As the Men in Blue were inches away from winning the 50-over World Cup at home last time in 2023, it will be interesting to see whether Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma – two of the best in the business in this particular format – will be there or not.

At the same time, questions arise over Gautam Gambhir’s future as well. India’s current head coach earlier had challenging times in Tests, and now, to make matters worse, India had miserable white-ball outings in Ireland and England.

Amidst tough times, Dinesh Karthik, the former KKR captain and current RCB mentor, picked India’s World Cup squad. There, to leave everyone in shock, he did not prefer one of Gambhir’s very favourites in the current bunch of players.

No Harshit Rana In India's World Cup Squad By Karthik

Under Gambhir, India fast-tracked Harshit Rana in the international set-up. Gautam Gambhir, who helped KKR win the IPL 2024 title, closely observed Rana while working as a mentor for the Purple and Gold Brigade.

After that, Harshit Rana played for India across all three formats in a very short period of time, something which happens very rarely. Even though his ODIs and T20Is numbers are quite impressive, his Test career did not go as he would have liked.

Also Read: Ravichandran Ashwin Picks India's 2027 World Cup Squad, Shocking Exits Made

Instead of Rana, who can be useful with the bat as well at No. 8 in ODIs, Karthik preferred Mohammed Shami. He did not even keep Arshdeep Singh in India’s ODI World Cup either.

To replace Arshdeep, Karthik kept Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a veteran who has been making waves under his watch in the IPL for the last couple of years.

Dinesh Karthik Selects Nitish Reddy Over Shivam Dube

In another shocking development, Karthik overlooked Shivam Dube, who has lately been doing a more than decent job with the ball in hand in the absence of Hardik Pandya.

In his place, he kept Nitish Kumar Reddy, with Hardik being there for India’s World Cup squad. Even after Reddy’s prolonged run of injury concerns, Karthik showed faith in him to do well in the World Cup 2027 if given the opportunity.

Among others, Karthik, unsurprisingly, kept both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in India’s World Cup squad. Shubman Gill has been picked as captain, while Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul are other designated batting options.

Two of them, Rahul and Kishan, can keep wickets as well.

For the spin department, Karthik kept Kuldeep Yadav as the lone specialist spinner in India’s World Cup squad. Axar Patel has also been there as a spin-bowling all-rounder.

Dinesh Karthik's India World Cup Squad

Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

For those who are unaware, World Cup 2027 will primarily be held in South Africa, with Zimbabwe and Namibia serving as co-hosts. The tournament will return to Africa after 24 years, with 14 teams set to play in a brand new format, scheduled to begin on October 4 and run till November 21.

Also Read: Meet Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage: Former Cricketer Who Defeated Neeraj Chopra In CWG 2026