World Cup Squad Selection Debate

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The Indian selectors will announce the 15-man World Cup squad Today. There is an unprecedented anticipation surrounding the squad announcement this time around. The World Cup being played at home brings in the additional zeal. Cricket experts and fans have shared their squads. They will be itching to see whether their team matches with the one that is picked. Here in this article let us look at deatails on World Cup Squad Selection Debate.

India has a problem of plenty both from a player pool perspective and from a fitness standpoint too. The selectors and the team management will hope their selections pays off. There will be few names that would miss out unfortunately.

We look at few such potential omissions that would trigger a debate:

#5 Yuzvendra Chahal

The call for his inclusion has grown louder ever since he was overlooked for the Asia Cup. Yuzvendra Chahal last played a World Cup across formats in 2019. He was criminally dropped from the side before the 2021 T20 World Cup. Chahal was sacrificed for a batting spinner in the 2022 T20 World Cup.

He seemed to be in contention for a spot in the ODI World Cup but it doesn’t look promising for the wily wrist spinner. His inability to hit the big sixes at the death is cited as one of the main reasons for his exclusion. It sounds ironic that a capable spinner is dropped for his third tertiary skill.

#4 Shikhar Dhawan

It is hard to imagine an ICC ODI tournament without Shikhar Dhawan. The left-handed opening batsman was India’s fulcrum in these tournaments. He inevitably would find form especially in the ODI World Cups. But Dhawan last played an ODI in December last year. The selectors have zeroed down on Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as their first-choice openers with Ishan Kishan as backup. His presence in the squad will add the necessary left-hand right-hand mix at the top of the order. But the door seems to have shut firmly on Dhawan.

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#3 Prasidh Krishna

In a relatively nascent career, Prasidh Krishna has done well in ODI colours. The tall seamer emerged as India’s frontline wicket taking option in the middle overs in ODIs. He answered the captain’s call to unsettle the batter with his back of length bowling. Krishna picked up 25 wickets in 14 games with a best of 4-12. His average of 23.90 and strike rate of 27.00 both look impressive. But India’s insistence for fielding a bowling allrounder might see him miss out on a World Cup berth.

#2 Ravichandran Ashwin

India is quite certain to pick Axar Patel who could fit in at number 8 on a turning track. Patel is a much improved batter who could be used to dominate spin in the middle overs. But with Ravindra Jadeja being one of the first names to be picked, Axar might hardly find a game until the track offers something. Axar Patel is a like-to-like replacement for Jadeja. It is against cricketing logic that both of these are fielding together. 

Ideally, India would do well with an off-spinner in the ranks. There will be teams in the World Cup with a lot of left-handers in the XI, Ashwin could prove to be a handful against them. But his selection too seems highly unlikely. 

#1 Sanju Samson

The biggest noise for a player’s exclusion would come from the fans of Sanju Samson. He enjoys a terrific and a loyal fanbase who are quick to take to social media to express their disappointment. The keeper-batter despite averaging 55.70 and striking at 104.00 might find it difficult to break into the team.

Suryakumar Yadav is the likely choice for a backup batter. Sanju has a far superior record as compared to SKY in ODIs. But SKY has shown what he can do on his day in the shortest format. This is one area owing to which Samson couldn’t quite cement his spot in the team. But try telling this to his fans!