3 players who can cement their place in India ODI XI before World Cup 2019
The biggest event in World Cricket- the 50 over World Cup, is less than 8 months away and the Indian team is far from settled.
As suggested by Rohit Sharma during the recently concluded Asia Cup, a number of places in the playing XI are up for grabs. Two batting slots at number 4 and number 6, the all-rounder’s slot at number 7 and a back up fast bowler slot is still available with none of the incumbent players nailing down their places in the squad.
India still has to play some one-dayers against West Indies and Australia before the World Cup begins in England in May. These one-dayers would be the last opportunity for India’s World Cup hopefuls to stake their claim for India’s squad for 2019 World Cup in England.
Let us take a look at some of the players that can cement their places in India’s ODI team with impressive performances in the upcoming ODI matches.
#3. Rishabh Pant
India's middle order woes are far from being solved. A number of batsmen have been tried at the number 4,5 slots but no one has impressed enough to nail down his place in the middle order.
The likes of Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey, K.L Rahul, Ambati Rayudu have not been consistent enough in the 50-over format. Also, none of these four can claim to be a big hitter of the cricket ball.
This is where the hard-hitting skills of Rishabh Pant come in. Pant has been in sensational form of late in Test cricket, striking the ball at a fair clip. His clean hitting ability may come in handy lower down the order, especially considering the fact that India does not have many big hitters in the middle order.
The fact that he is a left-handed batsman only makes his case stronger as current Indian side is dominated by right-handed batsmen.