5 Players who Virat Kohli should look at post the 2019 World Cup
With 5 wins in 6 matches, Virat Kohli’s Indian team is in a great position to top the league stage of the ongoing 2019 World Cup. The team has played some outstanding cricket and could go all the way in the UK.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been the backbone of the batting order by playing risk-free cricket, keeping wickets in hand, and setting the perfect platform for a late launch. Hardik Pandya has also played his role of a finisher to perfection with some creative cameos. But what has kept this team apart from the rest is the bowling attack.
India arguably possesses the best bowling attack in the world and that has been on full display at the world cup. The bowlers have bailed India out a few times in this world cup with the Blues winning 4 out of the 5 matches while defending scores.
It is easy to say that it has already been a memorable tournament so far for India, especially with as many as 7 world cup debutants in this edition. However, there are also a couple of players for whom this might be the last time they play in a world cup.
The evergreen MS Dhoni is one of them. Dhoni has been the backbone of the Indian team for almost 15 years now and it would be the perfect ending if he could lift the world cup on the 14th of July at the Lord’s. Players like Kedar Jadhav and Shikhar Dhawan could also feature in the World Cup for the last time.
Post the 2019 world cup, the Indian team has a series lined up against the West Indies following which they have a bumper home season. Virat Kohli and the team management will look to give opportunities to new players and lay the roadmap for 2023.
Here are 5 players that Kohli should look at after the 2019 World Cup.
5. Shreyas Iyer
Ever since the 2015 world cup ended, the Indian team has had one major point of discussion - regarding will be the long term solution to number 4.
Players like Manish Pandey, KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, and Ambati Rayudu have all been given several chances but failed to make the position their own. The team zeroed in on Vijay Shankar as their pick for the 2019 world cup but he has failed to impress so far with the bat.
That said, Shreyas Iyer could be the perfect candidate for the number 4 spot. Over the past couple of years, Iyer has been in superb form, showing great temperament and a new-found calmness under pressure. These traits were on full display during IPL 2019 where his calm demeanour brought him 463 runs and he also led the exuberant Delhi Capitals to a third-place finish.
Iyer has also had some consistent performances for India A and time spent with Rahul Dravid has certainly helped him mature into a better batsman. He will bring in some much-needed calmness to the number 4 spot which would help the team in pressure situations. Virat Kohli and the team management should definitely look at this player closely.
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