CWC 2019: 5 players who can be outside choices for a spot in India’s 2019 World Cup squad

India will play their first match in World Cup against South Africa on 6th May, 2019.

The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup starts from 30^th May in England and Wales. This is the fifth time England is hosting the Cricket World Cup and may be the first time the hosts are strong favorites to win the tournament.

However, amongst the favorites, the Indian team are being considered the strongest given their recent form. The no.2 ODI ranked Indian team is just four rating points behind the no.1 ranked England side and had given them a strong fight in their recent bilateral series.

The Indian team has defeated South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and West Indies in the ODI format in the last year or so and have been winning in dominant ways.   

The squad for the Indian team has almost been finalized, as per statements of chief selector MSK Prasad, who said they have their team for World Cup 2019 has been locked in. However, there are still spots to be filled in or multiple options for a spot in the team and Team COC presents to you five such out of the box options for the Indian team in the 2019 World Cup.

These five players provide the skills and talents to fill in the spots that are currently empty or in contention in the Indian team.   

5 players who can be outside choices for a spot in India’s 2019 World Cup squad

UMESH YADAV

The Indian team looks pretty set when it comes to it's their fast bowling department. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami have been excellent in the opportunities they have received with Bumrah being the pick of the bowlers internationally. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been the leader of the pack with Bumrah or without him and Shami has just proven why he is one of the best out there.

Meanwhile, there is still one spot to fill in the fast bowling department and so far, Mohammed Siraj and Khaleel Ahmed have been the names discussed. Siraj has had the chance to play T20Is and recently made his ODI debut and has played three T20Is. However, his economy rate has been a headache for the Indian team, since he gave away 76 runs in his 10 overs on ODI debut and has an economy of 12.33 in T20Is.

On the other hand, Khaleel brings the angle of being left-hand fast bowling to the table and with 21 wickets in 17 international matches, he has had a good start to his career. But his inexperience has been milked highly by the opposition.

This means that if the Indian team wants to go with an experienced name, they don’t have to look further than Umesh Yadav. With 106 wickets in 75 ODIs, Yadav has shown his appetite for wickets and was one of the best bowlers for India on their overseas season in 2018. He bowls fast and has endless stamina and can be brilliant support to Shami, Bhuvneshwar, and Bumrah.

VIJAY SHANKAR

Vijay Shankar will be competing for the all-rounder spot in the team with either Hardik Pandya or Ravindra Jadeja in the Indian 2019 World Cup team. Shankar was picked in the Indian team as an option for the injured Hardik after the Asia Cup 2018.

Shankar initially made his debut in the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka and became the talk of the town during the finals of the T20I tri-series. Since that initial setback, Shankar has warmed up to the Indian fans as a pure batsman, given his exploits in the New Zealand T20I series and in the final ODI against the Kiwis.

Though Shankar doesn’t hit the speeds of 130 plus like Hardik, he has shown that he has the game to either finish the games or anchor a chase, as per the need of the game. He has a brilliant batting technique to make it into the team as a batsman on his own.

Shankar has to battle Hardik Pandya, who is the chosen one in the team and with Jadeja, who has been one of the best all-rounders for the team in the past decade.

DINESH KARTHIK
Dinesh Karthik’s career has been like that of a phoenix, that has risen from the ashes more than once. Despite making his debut in 2004, Karthik has played 91 ODIs for the team and has scored 1738 runs for India. Karthik was one of the many keepers who got swept away in the MS Dhoni tsunami.

Karthik has tried time and again to reinvent himself into a batsman and only recently he succeeded in doing so. Even more, he has been finishing games for the Indian team in T20Is and has been one of the best batsmen in recent times and no one can forget that last-ball six to win the Nidahas Trophy.

However, Karthik has been a revelation in T20Is, but since he bats so low in ODIs, his performances are often overlooked and he only made into the ODI team because Rishabh Pant was rested for the Kiwi and Australia limited overs tour. Now that Pant is back in the reckoning, Karthik has a big contest on his hands to make the final squad, given that the finishing duties in ODIs usually fall on Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya, who also make up the fifth bowler.

But given Karthik’s experience and better keeping abilities than Pant, can prove to be an excellent backup to Dhoni as a keeper and Karthik has the ability to bat higher up the order at no.4 also if the chosen batsman at the spot fails.   

KL RAHUL
One spot that India has got it sorted is the opening combination, as perhaps the best opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have rewritten record books with their partnership since 2013. However, there is still a spot open for the third opener in the Indian 2019 World Cup squad and one option to look at is KL Rahul.

However, the problem with Rahul is that he is woefully out of form, despite being given chances after chances to establish himself in the team. His game prevents him from playing in the middle order and current form doesn’t warrant a place in the senior team.

KL Rahul also has competition in form of Dinesh Karthik, who has been touted as an alternate opening option for the World Cup, given that he has done that previously. Also, Karthik is in form and the only good thing for Rahul is that Karthik is seen as a finisher rather than an opener.

But Rahul’s drought of runs has continued in the shorter and longer format, but decent innings against England Lions recently have sparked some hope. Only the coming limited overs series against Australia, which will be the last ODI and T20I matches Indian team will play before the start of 2019 World Cup.

RISHABH PANT
 Rishabh Pant has been a revelation for India given his performance in the England and Australia Test series. However, his limited-overs career has been unfulfilling so far despite promise shown by him. A lack of long run in the limited overs team has also been detrimental to his cause.

But experts in the country and abroad have strongly supported his inclusion in the Indian World 2019 World Cup squad. His ability to rip apart bowling from the word go and inclination to dominate the opposition bodes well for the Indian team who will face some of the most aggressive teams in the mega event, like hosts England for example.

Pant has been pushed to become the finisher in place of MS Dhoni, but most of Pant’s brilliance in domestic cricket in limited overs has come at the top of the order including his blistering century in Syed Mushtaq Ali tourney. With Dhoni cementing his place behind the stumps, Pant will have to do with the role of the pure batsman.