Ashwin’s 2027 World Cup picks exclude Pant, Samson and Abhishek; Bhuvneshwar included

Ravichandran Ashwin has published his selections for India ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup, sorting players into lists labeled 'Yes', 'Maybe', and 'No'. His preferred group contains veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, while Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson and Abhishek do not feature among his top choices.

Ashwin, the former India spinner, set out the framework he used to evaluate candidates for the tournament by separating names into three clearly labeled categories: 'Yes', 'Maybe' and 'No'. The lists represent his personal assessment of players for the 2027 ODI World Cup. Within those groupings he included Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the squad he favors and omitted several notable white-ball names from his immediate top bracket.

He included veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in his preferred squad. Ashwin said Bhuvneshwar Kumar is capable of performing well in South African conditions. The pacer appears among the names Ashwin identified as his preferred choices for the event.

Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson were not part of Ashwin's top picks. Abhishek was also left out of that immediate group. Those omissions place each of those players outside the front-line selections Ashwin set out in his lists.

Ashwin organized his evaluations into three categories labeled 'Yes', 'Maybe' and 'No'. He made these lists public as his assessment of which players should be considered for the 2027 ODI World Cup. The published selections spell out which individuals Ashwin views as ready, uncertain or unsuitable for his preferred squad.

Ashwin's published lists set out his chosen and excluded players for the 2027 ODI World Cup. The document makes clear which cricketers he placed into each category ahead of the tournament.