New Delhi: The upcoming season of the Indian Premier League will serve as a potential door to the 2027 ODI World Cup squad, as players will be eager to impress the national selectors to make the 20-odd probables list.
Having already earmarked the probables for the showpiece event next year, the five national selectors will keep a close eye on these players during the IPL 2026, starting March 28, as per a PTI report, which quoted a top BCCI official for the information.
The Ajit Agarakar-led panel, including SS Das, RP Singh, Ajay Ratra, and Pragyan Ojha, will keep a track of the performances of the players during the T20 mega-event.
The 2027 ODI World Cup will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia in October and November.
The selectors are expected to be present for IPL games at their respective bases, besides watching the events unfold on their television sets.
Focus on ODI WC probables during IPL
While Agarkar is based out of Mumbai, Das is a Kolkata resident. RP Singh and Ratra have a home base in the National Capital Region (Delhi NCR), and Ojha is expected to track the performances in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
“The BCCI is looking at each selector watching at least one game per week which covers five games per week from the venue. Else obviously they can track on TV,” the official said.
With the 2028 T20 World Cup and the LA Olympics still two years away, the IPL will be more about monitoring the performance of the 20-odd probables who have been earmarked for the 50-over World Cup.
Chances of a breakout IPL star getting in the mix for the ODI World Cup are very low.
The selectors are aware of the core ODI specialists, whose performance and fitness will be tracked during this year’s IPL.
It is understood that Harshit Rana will take a long time to recover from his knee surgery. The other fast bowlers for ODIs will be Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
No compromise for Afghanistan Test
The selection committee is set to select a full-strength team for the one-off Test against Afghanistan at Mullanpur from June 6 to 10, despite the fixture offering no World Test Championship points.
The BCCI source stated that the team management is likely to field all the front-line bowlers, including Bumrah and Siraj, for the Afghanistan Test.
(With Inputs from PTI)