ODI World Cup 2027 will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in September and October. According to reports, the Indian selectors have identified 20 players for this tournament and then from among these players, 15 members of the squad will be selected who will play the World Cup. Among these 20 players, there are 3 names who are going to stake claim for reserve opener. If everything goes well then only Rohit Sharma and captain Shubman Gill will be seen opening in this tournament. But if Rohit Sharma gets injured or his form deteriorates, then who will replace him is a big question. Let us tell you that in this race a direct competition can be seen between 3 players.
The battle for reserve opener for World Cup 2026 may be between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma. Although Abhishek Sharma is seen only in T20, but his all-round ability and his batting skills for the pitches of South Africa make him suitable for the ODI World Cup also. However, his competition will be with Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has so far scored 171 runs in 4 ODI matches at an average of 57. It is going to be very difficult to defeat Jaiswal. However, Ishan Kishan can also be an option for opening, who will go to South Africa as a reserve wicketkeeper and he can also open. Ishan Kishan has scored a double century in ODI against Bangladesh. Also, the way he performed in the T20 World Cup, he has become a big contender for this role. Now the question is, what do the selectors think?
The real fight in the ODI World Cup could be between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ishan Kishan. Ishan Kishan can be a big influence in this because he also does wicketkeeping. This player has so far scored 933 runs in 24 ODI innings at an average of 42.4. His strike rate is 102.19 and he has scored 7 half-centuries and one double century.
Shubman Gill (captain), Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Sanju Samson.
