5 Indian players who were part of the World Cup squad but never got a game
The ICC Cricket World Cup is one of the world's largest sporting events. The inaugural edition of this momentous tournament was held in 1975 in England. The mega event is being played after every four years. In the history of the tournament, twenty nations have qualified to play the mega tourney at least once, out of which Australia has won the coveted trophy five times in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015. India has won it twice in 1983 and 2011, while Pakistan and Sri Lanka have each won once in 1992 and 1996 respectively.
Given the magnitude of the World Cup, every cricketer dreams of representing his country at least once in the mega tournament and contributing his part to make his team become a champion. Over the years there have been numerous cricketers from all over the country who have had the privilege of taking part in the tournament.
And then comes the other category of exceptionally talented players who despite being picked in the squad never got a chance to play for their country in the World Cup. Here we take a look at five such cricketers who were extremely unlucky to miss out on representing their country in the World Cup despite being in the squad.
#5 Ambati Rayudu
The journey of the former India U-19 skipper, Ambati Rayudu, in international cricket has been a roller coaster ride as the Andhra-born cricketer got to play only 45 ODIs since his debut in 2013. However, his exceptional batting show for CSK in the last IPL has changed his fate. Based on his imperious form he was picked back in the Indian team for Asia Cup.
The 33-year-old made the most of the opportunity and went on to become the most likely solution to India's number 4 position. With his consistent performances, Rayudu now has almost sealed a spot in the upcoming World Cup in England.
But not many know that Rayudu was also a part of India's 15-member squad selected for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. With Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, and Suresh Raina doing their job to perfection, Rayudu had not got even a single game under his belt.
Thus far the classic middle-order batsman has scored 1447 runs at an astounding average of 51.68 in 45 ODIs. He has also got 3 tons and 9 half-centuries in ODIs.