3 times fast-tracking a player for the ODI World Cup backfired for a team
The World Cup fever is upon us and so are the raging selection debates that come with it. Team India have an idea about the shape of the team to an extent with a final run of fixtures remaining until the commencement of the team, but the possibilities are endless since there are so many personnel available.
With multiple candidates available for most of the spots in the team on the back of robust bench strength, there will arguably be no right answer, where the final squad is concerned. Team India's primary selection headache comes in the form of the infamous No. 4 slot as well as backups in the bowling department.
The form of certain individuals is also a slight concern, prompting the management to explore options outside the range. Following a breakthrough IPL season as well as an international debut, a case is being made for Tilak Varma to be included in the ODI World Cup squad.
The youngster being a left-handed batter in impeccable form makes him a tempting option, especially with India running out of options at No. 4. Injury issues plague KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer while the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson have just not made the most of their opportunities.
Even if Tilak Varma plays all the ODIs leading up to the World Cup, he will only have the experience of playing the 50-over format across a maximum of nine matches.
On that note, let us take a look at three instances where fast-tracking a player for the ODI World Cup backfired for a team.
#1 Vijay Shankar
The all-rounder's inclusion in the 2019 World Cup squad took everyone by surprise. While the management expected his '3-D' skills to be on show at the tournament, it did not pan out that way.
Vijay Shankar made his debut in January 2019 and played nine ODIs before being selected for the World Cup only about six months later. Prior to the tournament, he had scored 165 runs in five innings and took two wickets in eight matches.
He made a promising start in the World Cup, claiming a wicket off the very first ball. However, it just went downhill after that as he was neither among the runs nor the wickets in his three appearances in the tournament, before being dropped altogether.
The failure at the grandest stage had a huge impact on Shankar. Touted as a credible backup to Hardik Pandya across formats, the botched experiment set his career back a few years at least.
The all-rounder struggled in the domestic circuit as well as the Indian Premier League (IPL) post the World Cup and has not been selected for Team India since then. He had a promising IPL 2023 campaign with the Gujarat Titans (GT), which could pave the way to a potential comeback.
#2 Rishabh Pant
After much deliberation around the No. 4 spot during the build-up to the 2019 World Cup, India used multiple batters in the position across the tournament. KL Rahul was chosen as the candidate at the start, but he was promoted to the top due to Shikhar Dhawan's injury.
Following that, all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar were tried out for the positions. Ultimately, the team settled on Dhawan's injury replacement Rishabh Pant as the No. 4 batter. The wicket-keeper batter had only made his ODI debut in 2018 and played just five ODIs, before coming into the tournament.
He scored 116 runs in four innings at the position, but it was evident that he was not the right personnel for the position. It was Ambati Rayudu who was groomed for the position in the lead-up to the tournament and the batter had responded quite well too. However, he was snubbed in favor of Vijay Shankar by the selection committee at the eleventh hour.
Rishabh Pant received a lot of flak for his mode of dismissal during the infamous 2019 World Cup semi-final as well. It took a while for everything to subside and for Pant to be the established wicket-keeper following the retirement of MS Dhoni.
#3 Robin Uthappa
The 2007 ODI World Cup campaign marks one of the darkest phases in Indian cricketing history. The management led by Greg Chappell made several questionable decisions, which ultimately led to Team India's exit in the group stages itself.
One such decision was to drop Sachin Tendulkar to No.4 and use Robin Uthappa at the top of the other for two matches, and at No. 3 for one contest. The latter had made a bright start to his ODI career after making his debut in 2006.
Uthappa had eight ODI appearances under his belt before he was thrust into the World Cup in the Caribbean, where he only scored 30 runs in three matches in the forgettable campaign.
Should Tilak Varma be fast-tracked into the ODI setup on the back of his T20I form? Let us know what you think.