Karthik, Shankar included in India’s World Cup squad
India squad for the Cricket World Cup 2019 was announced on 15th April and it has caused quite a debate between the cricket experts and enthusiasts around the country.
The inclusion of Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar instead of Ambati Rayudu and Rishabh Pant was the main talking point after the squad was announced by MSK Prasad on Monday.
Ambati Rayudu has played almost all ODI’s for India after the Asia Cup and even Virat Kohli said in a press conference before the home series againt WI that Ambati Rayudu will be India’s №4 in the World Cup. He was the highest run getter for India in the away ODI series against New Zealand. He scored a brilliant 90 and bailed out India from a precarious 18–4 in the last ODI of that series.
He came to limelight in the U-19 CWC 2004 as the captain of the Indian Team but didn’t get any chance in the National Team. Stellar performaces in the IPL for Mumbai Indians helped him get maiden India call up against Zimbabwe in 2013. He played virtually all ODI’s for India leading up to the CWC 2015 and was selected in the 15-member squad but didn’t get a single game as Ajinkya Rahane performed well and made his entry difficult.
He has played 55 ODI’s and his average is 47.06 with 3 hundreds and 10 fifties. He has been consistent over the years but recent dip in form led to the inclusion of Vijay Shankar instead of him.
Just 3 failures in the home series against Australia cost him the NO.4 spot. What is intruiging is that frequent failures of Shikhar Dhawan in the ODI format didn’t affect his spot in the squad as compared to Rayudu. I feel that Rayudu had done more than enough to be included in the squad but selectors went with Shankar because he also gives a bowling option if that situation arises.
I feel India would miss the services of Rayudu in the World Cup because he could provide the required solidity in the middle after India’s fantastic top-3. Now, India’s №4 options are- Vijay Shankar, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik and KL Rahul.
The exclusion of Rishabh Pant was also surprising to many. MSK Prasad stated in the Press Conference that Karthik was preferred over Pant due to his superior keeping skills. But in September, in England, Rishabh Pant replaced Dinesh Karthik in the test matches, and in tests, the better keeper is selected which showed that the team-management saw Pant as the better keeper. Many experts have gone berserk after this statement of MSK Prasad.
He also stated that they wanted experienced players to be handling difficult situations and Dinesh Karthik has proved his mettle in this aspect in the past 2 years.
Personally, I feel that selectors made the right call in selecting DK in the squad over Pant because he can be a real asset in high run chases(300+).
One more thing that went in favour of DK was that he is considered as a team man by many. Even when he will not be a part of the eleven, he would ensure that he does everything required for the team to win the World Cup.
The absence of Rishabh Pant though, may hurt India as well. His explosiveness could have proved essential in making those 300–310 scores go up to 330–340.
The other talking point is that there are only 3 fast bowlers in the squad compared to Australia’s 5. Considering the overcast conditions in England in the months of June-July, India could have gone with one more fast bowler in the team. The three pacers include Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami.
Other players in the squad were all expected. Two mystery spinners- Chahal and Kuldeep have performed exceptionally well in the past couple of years because of which their inclusion was obvious.
The bowling of Kedar Jadhav is a huge positive for India. His slinging action has posed problems to many top batsmen of the world.
After all that happened to Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul due to their conroversial comments on Koffee with Karan, they have been able to show their worth in the IPL. KL Rahul is the second-highest run getter this season with 387 runs and on the other hand, Hardik Pandya has scored 186 runs at a mind-boggling strike rate of 191.75. He has also picked up 7 wickets this season.
India’s 15 Member Squad- Virat Kohli ©, Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami.
The selectors have also named three players as standby, incase there is an injury. They are- Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant and Navdeep Saini.
India will also go to England with 3 Net bowlers who are- Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
Predicted XI- Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli ©, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar/Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.
