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NEW DELHI: With more than a year left for the 2027 ODI World Cup, former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has shared the players he believes should be in the squad for the tournament.Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s YouTube channel, Ashwin divided the players into three categories – ‘Yes’, ‘Maybe’ and ‘No’ – while naming the cricketers he feels should be considered for the World Cup, which will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia from October 4 to November 21, 2027. One of Ashwin’s biggest talking points was the inclusion of veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, while players such as Rishabh Pant, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson did not make his preferred squad.
Ashwin’s picks for the 2027 ODI World Cup
Yes: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.Maybe: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.No: Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Shivam Dube, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar.
Why Ashwin picked Bhuvneshwar
Ashwin believes Bhuvneshwar can still play an important role in South African conditions and said he should be given regular game time before the World Cup.“Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a yes. I would communicate to him. Get him to play all the tournaments, first-class, Vijay Hazare, everything, and get him primed going to South Africa. I think we will need him there.”Bhuvneshwar impressed in IPL 2026, playing a key role in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s second straight title. He signed off the tournament’s second-highest wicket-taker with 28 wickets in 16 matches, averaging 17.89 with an economy rate of 7.95.The experienced seamer has also enjoyed a successful ODI career, taking 141 wickets in 121 matches at an average of 35.11, with best figures of 5/42. Across all international formats, he has claimed 294 wickets in 229 matches.
