Vijay Shankar included as India announces its World Cup squad
Chief selector MSK Prasad announced India’s 15-man squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in Mumbai on Monday 15th of April. Expat Sport takes a run through what is a fairly predictable roll call.
However, among the surprises was the inclusion of Vijay Shankar backed by a majority to take over the number 4 spot in the batting line up. This means that captain Virat Kholi’s choice, Ambati Rayudu misses out, despite his remarkable ODI resurgence, now faded based on current form, during the West Indies ODI series in October last year.
India’s 15-man squad:
Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (Vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Vijay Shankar, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
The search for a solid number 4 has been troubling India’s selectors for over a year now, and while Shankar has only played nine ODIs thus far, it was his all round capabilities which gave him the edge. Hopefully making him the perfect fit for a fretful long term vacancy and arriving just in time for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Although only making his debut earlier this year he has accumulated 165 runs and impressed as a ‘three-dimensional’ player able to contribute across all elements of the game. According to Virat Kohli, who despite his affinity for Rayudu is also a Shankar fan, “Vijay can bring a balance which other teams have had all these years.”
Meanwhile, keeping wicket has also come under intense scrutiny during the selection process, and here again MSK Prasad goes into some detail when he describes the reasoning behind picking Dinesh Karthik over Rishabh Pant.
“Wicketkeeping also matters. That is the reason why we went with Dinesh Karthik otherwise Rishabh Pant was also there,” comments the chief selector.
“The second wicketkeeper comes into play only if Mahi (MS Dhoni) is injured. We went ahead with Karthik because of his experience in big matches,” Prasad goes on to say.
The top order trio for the Men in Blue pretty much pick themselves, with Rohit Sharma (8010 runs in 206 matches, highest score 264) and Shikhar Dhawan (5355 runs in 128 matches, highest score 143) as the opening pair and Virat Kohli (10,843 runs in 227 matches, highest score 183) batting at three.
On paper, it appears as though India elected to stick with the One-Day International squad which they have fielded consistently over the past few months. Most members of the final fifteen played in both the ODI series against Australia and New Zealand, including the surprise inclusion Vijay Shankar and the excluded Rayudu. Pant and Dinesh Karthik both appeared in one series each, against Australia and New Zealand respectively.
India’s top order will be supplemented by KL Rahul. Confirming the reasoning behind his inclusion, chief selector MSK Prasad commented, “We also have a role for KL Rahul in the top order, he is the reserve opener.”
It is also worth looking in greater depth at the reasons behind Ambati Rayudu’s failure to secure a seat on the plane. While he had been batting at four since last year’s Asia Cup, and notwithstanding a superb West Indies ODI series last year, Rayudu was at a tipping point come January 2019 in the ODIs against New Zealand, only managing a single high score of 50-plus runs. The start of a decline, which saw him produce an at best mediocre performance in the Australia series with a highest score of 18. He has also been lacklustre in the IPL, producing little in the way of batting pyrotechnics and short on eye catching scores.
As most coaches and team managers will tell you, selection is a quest for the right balance. In this respect the Indian team for World Cup 2019 feels like it is suddenly in better fettle, comprising five specialist batsmen, two wicketkeepers, three fast bowlers, three all-rounders and two specialist spinners.
The three all-rounders are crucial to this balance. Vijay Shankar (batting average 33, highest score 46, wickets 2), Hardik Pandya (45 ODIs, Batting average 29.24, highest score 83, right-arm fast-medium wickets 44) and Ravindra Jadeja (151 ODIs, batting average 29.92, highest score 87, slow left-arm orthodox wickets 174) are all class acts. Not forgetting the titanic veteran wicketkeeper-batsman, MS Dhoni (341 ODIs, batting average 50.72, highest score 183) and batting all-rounder Kedar Jadav (59 matches, 1174 runs, highest score 120)
Although it has to be said, that the Indian Premier League has thrown up some performance mood swings for the first three. Shankar currently playing his IPL cricket in the middle order for Sunrisers Hyderabad appears to have hit a rough patch of form, having failed to get above 26 in his last eight matches. In contrast Mumbai Indians’ Hardik Pandya is on fire with 355 runs and 10 wickets in12 matches. Meanwhile Ravindra Jadeja playing for Chennai Superkings in the IPL has managed just 76 in 11 games and taken 9 wickets.
Ace spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is not afraid of getting hit for six if it tempts the batsman into mistimed contact (41 matches and wickets 72, best bowling figures 6 for 42). Paired with Kuldeep Yadavhis who’s ‘chinaman’ is virtually unplayable on many occasions (44 matches and wickets 87, best bowling figures 6 for 25), they form India’s dynamically dangerous spin duo.
Currently the World No.1 ODI and possibly the most feared pace bowler is Jasprit Bumrah and India’s success will depend heavily on his performance (49 matches and wickets 85, best bowling figures 5 for 27). He is ably supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar who can swing the ball both ways with pinpoint accuracy, potentially ideal in English conditions which are conducive to swing bowling (105 matches and wickets 118, best bowling figures 5 for 42). Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami has never been more lethal than since his return to limited-overs cricket (63 matches and wickets 113, best bowling figures 4 for 35).
Looking at the sheer quality of the Indian squad selected to contest the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 it is easy to understand why they have been dubbed as favourites for the final, despite the IPL throwing up a few individual performance issues. There is a school of thought that says because of the way cricket is played in major T20 competitions, their outcomes do not necessarily reflect what is likely to happen in the World Cup. Countering that argument, in the eyes of most coaches, individual momentum and therefore confidence going forward into a competition in any sport is most important. Nonetheless, overall there is a vast vein of quality and experience that runs through the Men in Blue which should see them through to latter stages of the tournament.
Expat Sport’s Mac McTiernan walks through India’s ICC World Cup squad named by the selectors in mid-April in conjunction with player performance statistics and specific IPL form.
