ICC World Cup 2019: Analyzing India's probable squad
It looks like everyone wants to anoint India as favourites for the World Cup. While it might seen like a nice thought, it can be a poisoned chalice. In recent times, only Australia have worn the tag of 'favourites' well, and as recently as a weeks ago the underdogs Sri Lanka have shocked everyone and won a historic Test series in South Africa. The longer the game the greater the chance the 'favourites' will come through.
Having said that, India seems to possess the right kind of players: young fellows who get on with it with hardly an eye on the scoreboard. That is the way in this game - one of the positive moments from the ongoing India vs Australia ODI was when Virat Kohli and Vijay Shankar smashed the Australians around from a scoreboard that read 75-3, on a rather high-scoring pitch. But to be able to do that teams must, ideally, bat deep, and that is where India are well served.
The ideal way to go about it is to have five batsmen, a keeper and a batting all-rounder in the top seven. If there is a second batting all-rounder in that mix, it is even better. India's top six are well served on this parameter with Rohit, Dhawan, Kohli, Vijay Shankar or Rayudu, Kedar Jadav and MS Dhoni. Hardik Pandya will be no. 7 and with Bhuvneshwar Kumar likely to get in, the batting looks like it has enough to counter most situations.
The bowling can be tricky though. Almost certainly India will play three seamers and two wrist spinners (unless Jadeja forces his way in, which is not a bad idea) and get Kedar Jadav to pitch in as sixth bowler. India are more confident in their wrist spinners to slow the run rate in the middle overs and if like in South Africa or Australia, the ball grips, India will have an embarrassment of the riches, but that is unlikely to happen in early-season cricket in England.
If it turns out the ball is seaming a fair bit, India might be tempted to play Mohammad Shami leaving out Chahal and also include Vijay Shankar instead of Rayudu.
In the batting department, India has the fire power to chase down any targets. India are the most well-rounded side in ODIs. The top three on most occasion steps in and guides India home. However it will be left to see if Rayudu can bring back his form before the mega tournament kicks off.
In the absence of Pandya, Vijay Shankar has grabbed his opportunities and has shown his captain and the selectors why he needs to be picked in the 15-men World Cup squad. He had been good with the bat and the fact that he has contributed with the ball in the 2nd ODI is a pleasing bonus. His World Cup ticket might just be printing.
Kedar, with his ability to pitch in as sixth bowler, will be a guaranteed starter in the playing XI. On the other hand, Dhoni, with his age, his hitting and strike rotation may have declined but not his composure under pressure. That's the priceless and much-needed value Dhoni brings into the team.
With the exception of Rohit and Dhawan, by their own standards, each of the Indian players has done well and are in good form. Sometimes we can raise too many questions about fatigue and ignore the fact that a player in form wants to play more games. A Kohli or Bumrah would be waiting for 5 June, when India plays it's first match - and even the warm-up games.
Here's the predicted World Cup squad: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Bhubneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Shami, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja.