Indian batter Hanuma Vihari has picked India’s playing XI for the 2027 ODI World Cup. Vihari picked players like Mohammed Siraj, Krunal Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who are currently not part of the ODI team, in his side.
Vihari backed Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to be India’s final XI for the ODI showpiece.
“Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. This will be my playing XI for the World Cup. They have the experience and will definitely challenge any team. If you have these six bowling options, I think any captain will be happy. You can bowl any bowler at any time. They are very smart bowlers. If you have such a bowling attack, even Hardik can take wickets in the middle overs,” Hanuma Vihari said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Vihari reckons Krunal Pandya can be picked ahead of Washington Sundar and believes the former will be more effective than the latter.
“Sundar does not give a lot of overs and captain Shubman Gill has also not trusted him enough. So I have a name in mind. If Ravindra Jadeja is your second all-rounder, then we don’t need him as a spinner. If not, then Krunal Pandya is your go-to man. Why Krunal? Because he is doing very well with the bat as well. More than Sundar, Krunal can be effective in terms of bowling and also batting. The batting order is fixed till number five. At six you can have Hardik, Axar at seven, and Krunal at eight. You can expect him to do the same thing he did for RCB. If wickets fall early, you can send him at five as well and he can do the finishing role well too,” Hanuma Vihari added.
The Indian batter backed Bhuvneshwar Kumar to make a comeback in the ODI squad after an impressive run in IPL 2026.
“You may ask where Bhuvi came from. But to win the World Cup, you need to have experience. Imagine Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah with the new ball. Leave Shami aside because he is not being considered. But at least consider Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He can get the swing in South African conditions, has the experience, and his pace has improved. We have seen what he has done in the IPL. He has played domestic and List A as well and has the fitness to bowl ten overs. At least it would be enough to play against the main teams. There will be some teams in the league stage against whom you don’t need to play him, so workload management can also happen,” he explained.
India’s next ODI series is against the West Indies in September.
