ODI World Cup 2023: 5 Oldest Players in the tournament

Ravi Ashwin. (Photo Source: ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)

The ICC World Cup 2023 will begin in India on October 5 with 10 teams vying for the title of world champions. The tournament is being held only in India for the first time and will see 48 matches being played across 10 venues. The final of the event will be played on November 19.

Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the opening encounter of the ICC World Cup between England and New Zealand. The same venue will also host the final of the tournament. Apart from Ahmedabad, other venues are Chennai, Delhi, Pune, Dharamsala, Lucknow, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru.

The tournament will see a lot of experienced players taking part. These players have a wealth of knowledge and for many foreign players, this will be their final World Cup event as well. Keeping this in mind, here are the 5 most-aged cricketers in the ICC World Cup.

Check out the 5 oldest players in the tournament in ODi World Cup 2023:

5. Ravichandran Ashwin (India)- 36y 353d

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin was a late addition to the Indian World Cup 2023 squad. He replaced the injured Axar Patel, who suffered a torn quad during Asia Cup 2023. On September 28, 2023, the deadline to submit the final quad, India confirmed that Ashwin had replaced Axar Patel.

This will make Ashwin join Virat Kohli as the only two remaining 2011 World Cup winners to play in a World Cup at home once more. He recently made his comeback to ODIs after 20 months and did well against Australia, especially in Indore ODI with three wickets. His off-spin gives India variety in spin department which has Kuldeep Yadav as left-arm wrist spin and Ravindra Jadeja as left-arm orthodox spin. 

4. Mahmudullah (Bangladesh)- 37y 234d

Mahmudullah vs New Zealand. (Photo Source: ICC)

Mahmudullah also made a last-minute entry into the Bangladesh World Cup 2023 squad. The right-handed batter is the first Bangladeshi to score a century in a World Cup tournament. He achieved that feat in the 2015 World Cup edition against England in Adelaide. 

With 5020 runs in 221 ODIs, Mohammad Mahmudullah is one of the most experienced Bangladeshi cricketers in the format. He has made 3 centuries and also has 82 wickets to his name. With Tamim Iqbal missing out, Mahmudullah will provide the experience Bangladesh needs in the team, along with Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. 

3. Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan)- 38y 270d

Mohammad Nabi. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Mohammad Nabi will be the oldest Afghanistan player in the ICC World Cup 2023. The 38-year-old all-rounder has been a cornerstone of Afghanistan’s batting since 2009. He made his World Cup debut in 2015 along with the Afghanistan team.

Nabi has played 147 ODIs and scored 3153 runs with 1 century and 16 half-centuries to his name. He also picked 154 wickets with his off-spin at an economy of 4.29. A fierce hitter of the ball, Nabi will do well on smaller Indian grounds. And he will be useful as a spinner and as a guiding force for Afghanistan, having captained them previously.  

2. Roelof van der Merwe (Netherlands)- 38y 250d

Roelof van der Merwe

A tidy left-arm spinner and hard-hitting batter, Roelof van der Merwe will be turning out for the Netherlands in the ICC World Cup 2023. A former South African cricketer, Van der Merwe moved to the Netherlands in 2015 to play T20Is. He made his ODI debut in 2019 for the Netherlands. Van der Merwe has played 16 ODIs, taking 19 wickets and scored 96 runs with one fifty. 

1. Wesley Barresi (Netherlands)- 39y 127d

Wesley Barresi (Photo Source: Twitter)

Netherlands’ Wesley Barresi will be the oldest cricketer in ICC World Cup 2023 at 39 years old. Barresi has had a chequered career with the Dutch side. He was part of the squad which played in the 2011 ICC World Cup which was jointly hosted by India.

Having made his ODI debut in 2010, Barresi has played 45 matches, scoring 1193 runs with one century and 8 fifties to his name. He also has 20 catches and 8 stumpings while keeping wickets for the Netherlands. He had announced his retirement from cricket in 2021 but returned in 2022 for a last hurrah at the world stage.