Sunday, December 7, 2014

Stalwarts Omitted from the preliminary Indian Squad for the World Cup 2015

The Indian selectors announced the preliminary squad of 30 members for the ICC Cricket World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand from February 2015. Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan were all omitted. Obviously those from outside the 30 can still find a place in the final 15 that will be announced soon but I guess the fact that these players were omitted in the first place leaves that window of opportunity pretty much closed.

The 30 man Indian squad is given as under:

Batsmen

Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Manish Pandey, M Vijay

Fast Bowlers

Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma, Ashok Dinda

Spinners

R Ashwin, Parvez Rasool, Karn Sharma, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav

Wicketkeepers

MS Dhoni, Robin Uthappa, Sanju Samson, Wriddhiman Saha

I would say that this is a pretty good squad and that the best players have been chosen based on recent performances. It is not everyday that I praise the Indian selectors but a pat on the back is required for a job well done, they must have been under some pressure to include the stalwarts which were a part of previous World Cup success but they did not give in.

Let us see what the final 15 will look like, mine would be something like this:

Batsmen

Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu

Fast Bowlers

Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron

Spinners

R Ashwin, Akshar Patel

Wicketkeepers

MS Dhoni, Robin Uthappa

What do you think of the selections? Who would make the final 15 in your opinion? Have your say!

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