5 Indian stars who might not play in the 2019 World Cup
With the Champions Trophy now over, all teams will begin planning for the 2019 World Cup. Interesting details have emerged and teams have understood the weaknesses that they can now work on in the long run.
All plans will now be drawn up keeping in mind the World Cup and India too are gearing up for the tournament after their good performance in the Champions Trophy. India, however, face a few selection dilemmas because of the wealth of talent they possess.
Also read: 5 Indian players who should be groomed for the 2019 World Cup
Some new faces need to be tried out now and some hard decisions taken, keeping in mind Mission 2019. Who are the players who might miss out?
Here are five Indian stars who might not make it to the 2019 World Cup. Some very big names make it to this list.
#5 Dinesh Karthik
A man who has been out of the ODI team but back now in the squad because of a good domestic record, time seems to be running out for Dinesh Karthik. Once the automatic choice for India behind the stumps, Karthik struggled for selection ever since the emergence of MS Dhoni.
He has had to remodel himself as a specialist batsman to improve his chances of making it into the squad. Though he has been on the fringes for some time now, the last match he played was against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup in 2014. Although he was in the squad for the Champions Trophy, everyone was sure that he would only be used as a benchwarmer.
With the likes of Rahane getting runs and Manish Pandey and KL Rahul set to return, it is just a matter of time before Karthik slips into oblivion. Even if Dhoni is not available, the selectors might look at other options like Pant, Samson or even Rahul to don the gloves.
Mission 2019 seems impossible for Karthik at the moment and he might well be overlooked soon. He has to consider himself unlucky to have played during the era of the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman that India have ever produced.