World Cup 2019: One brave selection India can make for the opening game against South Africa
The Cricket World Cup 2019 is already underway as all the teams look to gain initial momentum going into the early stage of the competition. India kickstarts its World Cup campaign quite late in the tournament, with their first match scheduled against South Africa on June 5. The Men in Blue will look to hit the ground running with a win against the Proteas who will be playing their third game match within seven days.
While the talk around India’s playing combination has been centred around their No. 4 position, the debate was pretty much settled after KL Rahul scored a century against Bangladesh in the warm-up game with Vijay Shankar failing to do any good for his case in the starting XI.
The other point of interest has been the temptation to go in with both the wrist spinners on surfaces that have very little on offer for the spinners. However, India might also make a brave selection by considering the all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja along with any of the spinner.
Jadeja’s selection can be the brave call
The all-rounder threw the hat in the ring for the management to consider over his selection in the opening match at Southampton. He did show his form with the bat with a fifty in the warm-up game against New Zealand. He is worthy enough to bat at No. 8 in the batting order.
In the past, he has shown signs of having to possess various gears in his batting. The 30-year old can also get the nod due to India’s long tail with none of the bowlers capable of playing any role with the bat.
One of the best fielders in Indian ranks, he’s a bank in the field who is athletic and possesses the ability to inflict a run-out or pluck a catch from nowhere. Above all this, he bowls tight lines and gives his captain an option of 7-8 overs in every match.
It might be interesting to see whether Virat Kohli banks on his wicket-taking option of Kuldeep-Chahal or trusts Jadeja as a more all-round option to account for some runs from the lower-order.
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