World Cup 2019: 3 Indian players who failed to impress from the warm-up fixtures
The Indian team's warm-up matches ahead of the commencement of the World Cup 2019 witnessed contrasting results as a thumping defeat at the hands of New Zealand was followed up by a 95-run trouncing of Bangladesh.
While there were quite a few positives for India in the build-up to the event, a few players miserably failed to make the most of the massive opportunity handed out to them and now face a challenge of re-seeking the lost form to make an impact in the league stages of the tournament.
Here are three players who did not make the most of the chances given to them during the warm-up encounters.
#1 Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan's reputation of finding form in ICC-based tournaments took a hit in the warm up games as he scored just three runs from both matches combined and looked all at sea against the moving ball. While Dhawan has enough experience to leave the setbacks in the past, the way he was dismissed is what makes for sad viewing.
He went fetching at Boult’s deviating delivery only to nick it to Blundell against New Zealand before against Bangladesh, his feet went nowhere and was caught in front to Mustafizur Rahman. While Dhawan can be expected to bounce back to form soon, his issue with the swinging new ball will need to be addressed in order for him to get India off to a fine start.
#2 Vijay Shankar
Having missed the opening match against New Zealand owing to a hand injury he sustained in training, Shankar returned for the second game against Bangladesh. With a good couple of solid prods, Shankar looked in the groove until he soon perished for just a 7-ball 2.
With the competition in line to make the squad, Shankar's ability to contribute with medium pace also proved inneffective as he was taken for runs - 46 from six overs - and to complicate it, KL Rahul's century in the same match seemed to have all but shut the door on his place in the playing eleven.
#3 Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik did himself no favors by failing in the warm-up matches and will in all probability spend a lot of time on the benches in this edition of the World Cup. With the selectors mentioning that Karthik would be a 'back-up' for MS Dhoni, his spot in the eleven is not certain.
While his ability to hit the long ball could be of good use in the slog overs, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya are one of the best finishers in the game that potentially rules out a need for yet another finisher in the team.