There is plenty of buzz surrounding around Team India’s World Cup 2019 squad, which is going to be announced by the MSK Prasad-led selection panel in Mumbai on Monday (April 15).
Ahead of the official announcement, veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has suggested the selectors to go with an extra bowling option rather than picking a back-up wicketkeeper for MS Dhoni in the form of Dinesh Karthik or Rishabh Pant.
Harbhajan, who is currently playing under Dhoni for Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing Indian Premier League, feels a back-up for the CSK skipper would be a waste of resource.
"It's not that Dhoni does not have niggles. Playing cricket with him I know he has some back issues but with his experience, he knows how to play with all that," Harbhajan told India Today.
"I don't think you need any backup for Dhoni unless he suffers from any major injury during the World Cup. In case of any minor niggle, you do have KL Rahul in the squad who can keep. I know there is talk about Rishab Pant's X factor but it appears the team management is convinced with Vijay Shankar to start as no.4. You could have gone with Ambati Rayudu but he has perhaps lost form recently which peg him back. KL Rahul would be my back-up batsman in the squad," he added.
It is worth mentioning here that Dhoni has complained of a back spasm and admitted his back was a little tight after CSK's victory over Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday (April 14). Therefore, it would be interesting to see how the selectors go about their business.
Harbhajan said India would do well to look at Ravindra Jadeja as back-up to Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav and Navdeep Saini who has impressed not only on the placid Bengaluru pitches in the IPL but has also done well in domestic cricket.
Talking about the extra bowling options, Harbhajan said India would do well to look at Ravindra Jadeja as back-up to Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav while he batted for Navdeep Saini as a fourth seamer. Saini is playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the ongoing Indian Premier League and has put on some stellar individual bowling spells despite his team’s lacklustre performance.
"Jadeja is perhaps the best fielder in the side. He can also bat and I would want a back up spinner for Chahal and Kuldeep, if one of them were to suffer an unfortunate injury for a week or two. You need a fourth specialist seamer in England too and Navdeep Saini would be my pick.
"Not just because he has bowled well in IPL which in itself is creditable in Bangalore's batting friendly wickets but also because he has won Ranji matches in the past, so he comes with domestic experience," he concluded.
