SURESH RAINA

Suresh Raina was one of the best ODI players for India for a long time and played important roles in the 2011 World Cup win and the other triumphs. He has also captained India on occasions and his fielding abilities put him in the bracket with the likes of Ricky Ponting, Jonty Rhodes, and Yuvraj Singh.

However, as it happens with everyone, Raina lost a bit of focus and was out of contention quite some time in 2016 and 2017. He made a good return to the Indian team in the T20I series against South Africa in 2018. But after a dull limited-overs series in England, was not chosen for the Asia Cup 2018 or for the first two ODIs against West Indies.

The selectors have already looked beyond Raina and have their eyes set on Rishabh Pant as the finisher with either Manish Pandey or Ambati Rayudu playing the role of accumulators in the middle order.

Suresh Raina was one of the pillars of the Indian team in the MS Dhoni dynasty, but his lack of focus on fitness, failing yo-yo Tests and lack of form overall has caused him to go well down the pecking order for the 2019 World Cup and might not be given opportunities to stake a claim.