VVS Laxman, the National Cricket Academy head and India’s stand-in coach for the South Africa ODI series, on Thursday said that it would be difficult for the selectors to get the right team going into the 50-over World Cup slated to be held in India next year. He said that all the youngsters are performing really well and the competition is good hence they are spoiled for choices. Laxman’s comments came ahead of the 1st ODI between India and South Africa in Lucknow.

“It’s worked well so far as a back-up coach, it started from the Ireland series, the one England T20I (1st match) and the Zimbabwe series. Obviously, need to cover up for Rahul Dravid given his work commitments and the T20 World Cup coming up now,” said Laxman in a chat with host broadcaster Star Sports.

“We have a good bunch of cricketers, they are all looking forward to the series, the competition between them is good, we are spoiled for choices considering the amount of talent we have. It’ll be difficult for the selectors to get the right team going into the 2023 50-over World Cup,” he stated further.

Further talking about the competition within the Indian squad, Laxman said: “All the youngsters are doing well, they know that they’ll not get too many opportunities once the main players return, but this is a chance to perform well and keep themselves in the hunt when the strongest side is being picked.”

For the ongoing ODI series against South Africa, Shikhar Dhawan has been appointed as the captain with Shreyas Iyer serving as his deputy. The likes of Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer and Kuldeep Yadav are all part of India’s ODI squad.

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The senior side left for Australia on Thursday for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Meanwhile, India lost the first ODI against South Africa by 9 runs on Thursday, October 6.