India’s World Cup XV – My pick

The Cricket World Cup 2019 starts in May with India’s first game scheduled against South Africa on Jun 5th in Southampton.

Predictions have already started as to who will win the World Cup. India has successfully won against SA, AUS, and NZ with an exception to ENG where they lost by 2-1.

Given their overseas success recently, India’s cricketing god Sachin Tendulkar thinks Virat Kohli’s men are the favourites to lift the World Cup for the 3rd time. This claim was also backed by his former team mate Rahul Dravid who is responsible for nurturing a lot of the young talent that comes through the ranks and into the senior side.

Tendulkar also mentioned in an interview recently that India may face their biggest challenge against the hosts England in the World Cup after their narrow lose in the last ODI series.

India have been experimenting their perfect line-up for the past year or so in the build up to the World Cup. There are only a few white ball matches left for India to play before the World Cup that gets underway. You would think India would have decided their final squad by now.

ICC guidelines states each team selects 15 players. The teams do not have the luxury of changing during the tournament irrespective of player injuries etc., So here is fifteen players that I think will make it to the final line-up and why.

No:1&2 – the successful opening Pair – Rohit Sharma and Shikar Dhawan

Rohit Sharma and Shikar Dhawan are the most successful opening batsman for India. They both share a wonderful chemistry and understand each other’s game very well.

Along with Kohli, these two top order batsmen have contributed to most of the ODI runs scored by India, so on that basis their place in the squad is set in stone.

The bouncy pitches have always troubled the opening pair. This was evident during the recent NZ series too especially when there was movement, so they need to be patient initially and take time to settle into the game. Once these two are settled in then it’s hard to stop them.

No:3 another cricketing God in the making -Virat Kohli aka King Kohli

King Kohli is the perfect No:3 batsman for India and an unstoppable run machine who recently swept all of the top ICC awards (Test batting, ODI batting and Captaincy awards).

His sheer determination and ability to score runs on any surface( either overseas or in India) makes him an extra special player. Ravi Shastri recently mentioned that It will take a very long time for any other player even to come close to achieving this wonderful feat of sweeping ICC awards.

India are scheduled to play AUS at home followed by IPL 2019 in April before the World Cup, King Kohli has been rested for the last 2 ODIs and T20s in NZ series giving him the much needed break ahead of the busy schedule.

In Kohli’s absence Rohit Sharma stepped up as an ODI captain. He will be a handy captain with the support of MS Dhoni when King Kohli needs to be rested for the not so crucial World Cup matches. Having Dhoni on the side is a huge advantage given half of the field placement burdens are taken off from captain’s shoulders.

King Kohli is maturing himself as a captain and he is someone to watch out for in the World Cup 2019. I have my money on Kohli being the favourite player of the tournament.

The only other player that may shadow Kohli is the young Shubman Gill, but I don’t think he has played enough matches on the senior squad to make it into the final cut. Kohli watched him play in the nets and said that he was not even 10% of what Shubman Gill is at that age, so hopefully we can see his talent shine through in the future.

No:4 – the No 4 conundrum solved by Ambati Rayudu

The No 4 specialist batsman position has been the most debated topic recently. This debate has been thoroughly crushed by Ambati Rayudu’s fantastic performance in the NZ series.

Rayudu is someone who had struggled to secure a place in the national ODI side for a long time despite his huge talent and flair. His IPL performances gave him a much needed boost to secure a place into the national ODI side.

In the recent NZ series Rayudu showed what he is capable of when the top order collapses. He is someone who can stabilise innings and build crucial partnerships when the top order is in trouble. Vijay Shankar is someone who can step into Rayudu’s shoes in the future but I think it’s too late for him to make into the final squad. The chances for the likes of K L Rahul, Ajinka Rahane, and Shreyas Aiyer are also bleak.

No:5 – the man with the super computer brain

An year ago, many thought MS Dhoni may be too old to play in the World Cup. He silenced those who doubted his abilities and proved again and again what he could offer to the side. Perhaps his mere presence is enough to bring the best out of others.

Once everyone was convinced that he should be part of the ODI side for the World Cup, there was debate around his ideal position to play. There were many calls for him to play at No:4, but India is likely to stick with Ambati Rayudu for No:4 since captain Kohli thinks Dhoni is most suited at No:5 to provide a valuable contribution lower down the order.

MS Dhoni is someone who excels in chasing scenarios, constantly calculating the required runs with his super computer brain and finishes games in style. His lightning fast stumping skills behind the stumps cannot be matched by any other keeper in the world right now.

MS Dhoni’s advice to bowlers are invaluable to them and most of the spinners take his word blindly. The commentators who worked in IPL pretty much understand Dhoni’s conversations behind the mic with bowlers in Hindi and can translate words like “Bahut Badia”, “Nahi Nahi Yaar”.

Dinesh Karthik is another wicket keeping batsman, someone who can shadow MS Dhoni and is a very useful lower order batsman with finest finishing skills. He is never shy to display his abilities whenever there is an opportunity presented before him.

Another power-hitting wicket keeper batsman that showed a lot of character in England series last year was young Rishabh Pant. He has a couple of centuries under his belt in tests already and is a very promising young batsman who can go long way in Cricket. He grabbed the attention with his baby sitting skills during the recent AUS tour.

No:6 – ‘the returned power-hitting’ allrounder

Hardik Pandya is someone who almost lost his World Cup chances with his comments on a chat show recently, but he is the most charming power-hitter all rounder that India desperately needs. He is compared to the likes of Kapil Dev, though he never wanted him to be compared and wants to be himself.

India needs Hardik at No:6 since Pandya can shine not only with the bat but also with his medium pace bowling. He also possesses handy fielding skills. The only other player that India tried who can match Hardik would be Ravindra Jadeja (Jaddu aka Sir Jadeja).

England pitches are more suited to pace bowlers than spinners that puts Hardik ahead of Jadeja. There is no doubt that Jaddu is an exceptional player since he single handedly won matches for India however to me Hardik is ahead in the race for this No:6 allrounder spot.

No:7 – ‘the accidental’ Spinner

Kedar Jadav himself never thought he would bowl for India until MS Dhoni spotted him and encouraged his talent. Rohit Sharma, in his recent interview mentioned that he would consider Kedar as a front line spinner rather than a part timer.

MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadav give an impression that they both knew each other from their past births. You can feel that vibe with their conversations during Kedar’s bowling and also when they get to bat together.

To me Kedar Jadav is an obvious choice for No:7 spot with his slogging batting skills that are very useful when there is a huge target to chase down in front of you.

No:8 ‘Kul-Cha’ – ‘the wrist spinner duo’

India’s wrist spinner duo Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal at times are expensive but take crucial wickets in the middle overs.

The youngsters both compliment each other and miss one another when they have to play solo matches. They have already taken 100 scalps between themselves in ODIs.

They may have to get used to playing solos, as both may not get an opportunity to play on the pacy English conditions. Kuldeep Yadav may get picked on preference over Yuzvendra Chahal but Chahal can certainly entertain everyone with his interviews on Chahal TV during the World Cup.

No:8, 9, 10 the pacer trio

The Indian pacers have struggled with their workloads coupled with injuries and may have lost their rhythm, but lately they seem to have found their feet and look like they’re rating to go again. NZ captain Kane Williamson feels the current Indian bowling pack is one of the best going into the World Cup.

India has experimented many pace bowlers including Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmad and Siddharth Kaul but the trio stood out from the rest are Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, and Bhubaneswar Kumar.

Bumrah’s bowling angle and his late release bowls always troubled the best batsman in the world much like Malinga. Combined with Shami and Bhuvi they will provide the deadliest bowling attack.

Mohammad Shami has also recently found consistency in his pace. Bhuvi has also found his rhythm after recovering from injuries. These two have an excellent death bowling economy rate. Even though Umesh had a good spell in the England series, he is unlikely to beat these two to secure a place.

So on that basis here is my final India XV looks like:

Rohit Sharma

Shikar Dhawan

Virat Kohli (Capt)

Ambati Rayudu

MS Dhoni(Wkt) / Dinesh Karthik (Wkt) / Rishabh Pant (Wkt)

Hardik Pandya / Ravindra Jadeja

Kedar Jadhav

Kuldeep Yadav / Yuzvendra Chahal

Jasprit Bumrah

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar

Mohammed Shami

So what would he your Ultimate XV for India?

Kaundinya – 08/02/2019

( I crave for these writings during my travels when the boredom takes over me! )