ICC World Cup 2019: A look at the players who will likely be India's reserves
For a player to get into the World Cup plans of the Indian cricket team is a great achievement in itself. There are a lot of cricketers who make runs and take wickets in the Indian first-class circuit but there are only a few who are considered to even reach the bench of the Indian cricket team.
Here are three players who are talented enough to be given a lot of chances in the Indian cricket team, but have failed on a lot of grounds thereby frustrating the Indian cricket management as well as the Indian fans.
1. KL Rahul
Arguably the most talented young cricketer that India have produced in contemporary times, K L Rahul has been a disappointment to a lot of cricket fans.
Rahul's strength is his ability to play shots all over the ground. When on song he is as good as any great cricketer, but when he's not, he looks like a village player.
Rahul has been given a lot of chances, but his dismal form continued in Australia and then against England Lions. However, there is a possibility that he will be going to the World Cup 2019 as a reserve opener, which should be a disappointment to him as well as his fans.
2. Umesh Yadav
Umesh Yadav emerged on the Indian cricket scene as a tearaway fast bowler, but his problem then was his accuracy - he was not accurate enough to be a regular in the Indian team.
He then changed his bowling a tad as he started playing regularly in Indian home season. More changes came when he played the IPL 2018; he was bowling for the RCB and the Indian captain, and was quite accurate in his line and length.
Umesh's impressive stint in IPL allowed him a comeback in the Indian team. The comeback was great in the beginning but his accuracy dwindled and bowlers like Mohammad Shami and Khaleel Ahmed started to take his place.
Due to Khaleel's and Mohammad Siraj's dismal performances in the ODIs and T20Is, Umesh will likely make a comeback into the team. But he will definitely end up like a reserve at the World Cup considering the presence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.
3. Manish Pandey
The Karnataka veteran was Kohli's teammate during the U18 World Cup win in 2008 in Malaysia. He was also the first Indian to register a hundred in IPL.
Pandey was billed as the next batting sensation. But while he has had several great first-class seasons, when he wears that blue T-shirt he fumbles and stumbles.
Pandey was supposed to be the number 4 regular in the Indian team and he was also given plenty of chances at that position by the selectors. But a number of disappointing performances with the blues kept him out of the squad.
Pandey is a glorified reserve that India has right now, and his place will soon be taken by either Ambati Rayudu or Dinesh Karthik. His recent form in the domestic circuit might still give him another chance to be back in the squad, but only as a reserve.