Gautam Gambhir Ajit Agarkar Rohit Sharma Virat Kohli for India. Image Credits: AFP
The Indian squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2027 is starting to shape up as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has started to dictate roles to their premier players. This is to get them ready for the premier ICC event that will be played in 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.
The Indian team is likely to feature the majority of their first-choice players. The Men in Blue, who reached the final of the previous ICC World Cup in 2023 at home, will be eager to go all the way and win the trophy. The last time India won the ICC World Cup was in 2011.
Nitish Kumar Reddy asked to be ready for the ICC World Cup
Given that the Indian team will be playing on bouncy surfaces in South Africa, the BCCI has shown priority to all-rounders to give more balance to the team. A report in the Times of India had stated that Hardik Pandya has been asked to increase his bowling load, as the BCCI expects him to bowl his full quota of 10 overs in every match.
Even more so, the BCCI has also started to prepare the backup for Hardik Pandya, in case his back injury limits his bowling duties in the lead-up to and in the ICC World Cup.
The same report has stated that Nitish Kumar Reddy is seen as a viable backup for Hardik Pandya, and he has been asked to increase his bowling workload as well.
“The selectors are also looking at other seam-bowling options. Nitish Kumar Reddy has increased his bowling workload in domestic cricket as well,” a BCCI source told Times of India.
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Nitish Kumar Reddy had made his India debut in 2024 and has played 18 games across formats. He has one century in tests and one fifty each in ODIs and T20Is. On the bowling front, he has 8 Test wickets and 3 T20Is wickets, while he has only bowled 91 balls in four ODIs he has played for India.
Hardik Pandya shuttling between Mumbai and Baroda for practice
The report further stated that when Hardik contacted the Indian team management and selectors in January, he was informed that the BCCI intended for him to bowl a 10-over quota in the 2027 ICC World Cup.
Hardik Pandya has been working hard both at the CoE and elsewhere. To train with his own committed team, he travels back and forth between Mumbai and Baroda.
“Hardik has been increasing his workload. He has worked on his action to bowl in-swingers as well without compromising on pace. That’s why he has been entrusted to bowl with the new ball in T20s. He feels his body is ready to cope with the rigors of bowling 10 overs in ODIs. He understands his body well enough and is working towards staying fit to bowl 10 overs,” the source claimed.
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