5 players India should try ahead of the World Cup
It’s the World Cup year and all the focus ahead of the mega event is on getting the squads and the team combinations right. Teams have been preparing for the World Cup and are trying to make the most out of whatever games they’ve got left before the event.
In the recent past, India have been on a roll. They have lost just one ODI bilateral series in the last three years. In fact, since the 2015 World Cup, they have the second-best win-loss ratio (2.25). They’ve had a very good start to 2019 as well as they registered series wins in Australia and New Zealand. Hence, it does seem like most of the players pick themselves for the upcoming World Cup.
However, there are a few areas of concern and a couple of spots that aren’t fixed yet. The ‘Men in Blue’ have just one more series (five games) to fine-tune their skills before the mega event. Thus, they could try out a few fringe players in the upcoming series. Here are five players India should try ahead of the World Cup.
#5 KL Rahul
The Karnataka opener has had a tough time in the recent past. He hasn’t been in the best of form and has also had issues off the field. He’s had a torrid time in Test cricket and had a pretty poor 2018 with the bat.
However, Rahul hasn’t got a lot of opportunities in the shorter formats. While he’s played the T20 format regularly, he’s hardly got any opportunities in ODI cricket. In 2018, he played only three 50-over games. He was not out in one of the games, while he registered a duck in another (batting at No. 4) and struck a fifty (opening the innings) in his final ODI of 2018.
He’s been India’s backup opener for almost a year now but just hasn’t got the opportunities. However, off-field controversies meant that he was suspended and subsequently axed from the team just before the ODI series in Australia. He recently showed signs of returning to form against England Lions and thus deserves an opportunity at the top of the order.