India fell at the final hurdle once again in the 2023 World Cup. As they look to build towards the future, here are five players not in their 2023 World Cup squad who might go on to play a big role in the next four-year cycle.

India’s squad had as many as eight players over thirty years of age, and only one younger than twenty-five. While the playing group wasn’t heavily skewed in either age direction, the average age of the side was towards the higher side, around 30.5 years.

Moving forward into the next World Cup cycle, changes will be in order for them to build a younger squad for the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup. With that in mind, here are five Indian players who were not in the 2023 World Cup squad, who’ll go on to play an important role in the 2027 World Cup cycle.

Yashasvi Jaiswal

The 21-year-old southpaw has already showed the world what he is capable of across formats. He made his international debut earlier this year, falling just short of a double hundred on Test debut. Yet to play ODIs, Jaiswal is certain to be a vital cog at the top in India’s ODI team going forward, especially with Rohit Sharma not expected to hang around for too much longer.

Rishabh Pant

Pant had established himself as India’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter in Tests and ODIs before a near-fatal car accident at the start of 2023 meant he has been sidelined from the game for a long period. Currently on his road to recovery, Pant is expected to slot back in straight-away into India’s ODI middle order as soon as he is match-fit, deepening it’s already considerable strength.

Tilak Varma

Another young left-handed, middle order batter, Varma made a breakthrough in the 2022 IPL season. After two good years for Mumbai Indians, he was given an international debut this year and was even part of the extended Asia Cup squad before the World Cup. With India looking to invest in players with all-round skills, Varma, who can bowl handy off-spin, will be central to their ODI plans for the next World Cup cycle.

Washington Sundar

When Axar Patel was injured before the World Cup, India chose to go with the experience of Ravichandran Ashwin over Washington Sundar. Already 37 years of age, Ashwin almost certainly won’t be around for the next ODI World Cup. Sundar will have a good opportunity to make the spin-bowling all-rounder’s spot his own in the 2027 World Cup cycle. He also provides a solution to India’s long tail, which came to haunt them in the World Cup final.

Arshdeep Singh

The left-arm seamer has played only three ODIs for India so far. While he was unimpressive in those, he has shown his new-ball and death over skills in the shortest format over the last couple of years in the IPL, as well as on the international stage. India lack a left-arm seamer in ODIs, and Arshdeep could be the ideal solution to that problem going forward.

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