With the World Cup just months away, the BCCI Selectors and Team Management have shifted their focus from fielding the best possible 11 on the field to giving every prospect an opportunity to show what they can bring to the table.
The Selectors have made it very clear that they want to give enough opportunities to players like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Vijay Shankar to claim their spot in the Indian World Cup Squad which needs to be announced by 23rd April, the deadline set by the ICC for all the participating teams.
The opportunities left with the players are very limited as Team India is scheduled to play only 5 One Day Internationals against Australia before the ICC World Cup, apart from these matches players will get another shot in the IPL, where they will have 1-month window to prove their mettle.
Hardik Pandya's back injury has opened the door for Vijay Shankar, who has impressed in the limited opportunities given to him. Rishabh Pant's X-factor is as tempting as it can get but he is yet to put a brilliant limited over performance in the opportunities he has got. KL Rahul is back after the controversy and scored a gutsy half-century in the tough conditions against Australia in the first T20I at Vizag. The next-gen star Shubhman Gill was handed debut in New Zealand but he failed to grab the opportunity with two low scores.
Overall there are 20 Players in the radar of the Selectors, out of which 15 will make into the squad and 5 will be the standbys.
Keeping in consideration the past performances, current form, conditions, roles, fitness, and a two-month long tournament, here's our squad for Team India that should make into the ICC World Cup 2019, to be held in England and Wales.
Openers
Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul.
Middle Order
Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, KedarJadhav.
Wicket Keepers
MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik.
All Rounders
Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shankar.
Spinners
Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav.
Pacers
Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohamad Shami.
We could have gone for an additional pace bowler in place of Vijay Shankar, but it is most likely that Team India will go ahead with two spinners and two fast bowlers along with one pace bowling all-rounder (Hardik Pandya or Vijay Shankar) who will be backed up by Kedar Jadhav as 6th Bowler.
India's Playing 11 for the World Cup
Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.
With recent form and performances, Mohammad Shami comes very close to be the part of first playing 11, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar wins the race because of his batting abilities.
Here are our Standbys
Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddharth Kaul.
This will be a crucial tournament for India to stamp their authority on World Cricket, and if they can pull it off it may act as a perfect farewell for the legend himself, MS DHONI.
What do you think about our squad and first playing 11, do comment and let us know. Also, please subscribe to our blog to get articles about Indian Cricket Team and World Cricket.
Written By
-Shubham Agrawal
The Squad is spot on.
ReplyDeleteAbout Playing XI, as we are experimenting, i would try the following playing XI atleast in the Australian ODI's:
1. R. Sharma
2. S. Dhawan
3. K. Rahul
4. V. Kohli
5. MS. Dhoni
6. K. Jadhav
7. H. Pandya
8. B. Kumar
9. K. Yadav
10. Y. Chahal
11. J. Bumrah
My expected playing XI for ICC WC 2019
ReplyDelete1. R. Sharma
2. S. Dhawan
3. V Kohli (C)
4. A Rayudu
5. MS. Dhoni (Wk)
6. K. Jadhav
7. H. Pandya
8. B. Kumar
9. K. Yadav
10. Y. Chahal
11. J. Bumrah