ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: 3 reasons why India's 2019 World Cup squad is better than their 2015 squad
The selectors today announced Team India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming 50-over World Cup in England and Wales. As expected, Virat Kohli will lead the side while Rohit Sharma will serve as his deputy.
While most of the players pick themselves, there was a lot of debate surrounding the number 4 spot in the lineup as well as the backup wicket-keeper role. The selectors finally opted for the experience of Dinesh Karthik over the exuberance of Rishabh Pant.
KL Rahul and Vijay Shankar were also preferred over Ambati Rayudu for the number 4 spot. In the bowling department, the selectors opted to go with only three seamers in the form of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and three spinners in Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Ravindra Jadeja.
India did reasonably well at the previous World Cup, losing out to eventual champions Australia in the semi-finals. They head into the 2019 World Cup as one of the favourites for the title along with England.
Here, we take a look at three reasons why India’s 2019 squad is better than the one they had at the 2015 World Cup.
#1 Better depth
This current squad is among the best India have ever had. They have adequate depth in almost every department. The luxury of having Mohammed Shami as a back-up seamer speaks volumes of the squad depth.
Ravindra Jadeja has matured as a cricketer and is a handy option to have in case any of the frontline spinners get injured. In the batting department, India can call upon the services of Dinesh Karthik, while Vijay Shankar is also a handy option to have up their sleeve in a long tournament.
Comparing this to the 2015 squad, where India had an inexperienced Ambati Rayudu as a back-up batsman, it is clear that they are much stronger at present. Moreover, in 2015, Stuart Binny and Axar Patel were the back-up all-rounders while Mohit Sharma and an inexperienced Shami were the back-up seamers.