With the ICC Cricket World Cup around the corner, the hue and cry about who should India include in their plans have been banging through the roofs. Well, there are a lot of speculations, particularly with a few injuries in the mix. There is hope and yet there is despair.
With all said and done, Indian cricket should ideally find a way to put all of it aside before eventually coming to terms with the best squad for the upcoming quadrennial extravaganza. With all permutations and combinations, here is what India’s best playing squad may look like.
Opener: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Ideally, Rohit Sharma’s numbers of late have been questionable but then again, the man commands some serious respect when it comes to white-ball cricket, particularly ODIs. With three double-centuries and the captaincy of the side, Rohit continues to be a mainstay.
Shubman Gill is another big name and has been in dream form of late. With the tournament in India, Shubman makes an amazing pick, considering that wide array of strokeplay and the hunger that he has in his eyes to knit together a big knock under the pump.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has produced an amazing IPL that has played an instrumental role in making the selectors believe that he can be a deadly opener, considering the fearlessness that he brings to the platter. With all said and done, he should be a part of the playing XI.
Middle-order: Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya
Virat Kohli obviously makes the utmost pick given the fact that he is in dream touch and ever since his return to cricket from that one month of hiatus, he has been hungry and he will continue to drive India’s batting force.
Ishan Kishan ideally is an opener but with Rohit and Gill at the top and with Rishabh Pant still out of the equation, Ishan becomes an identical replacement and hence slots in perfectly in the middle-order.
KL Rahul will most likely return from an injury to be a part of the World Cup and when it comes to batting in the middle-order, he is a prolific scorer and also an eminent shot-player.
Shreyas Iyer is still to recover from the injury but if he does that in time, he should be making all the right noises with the bat in his hand. He loves to play his shots and adds an attacking option in the mix.
Hardik Pandya has provided a wondrous sense of stability in the middle and will be expected to bring out the big guns once he gets his eyes in. Usually a fine striker of the ball, Pandya is a mainstay in the team as an all-rounder too.
Ravindra Jadeja becomes another obvious choice considering his all-round ability and his recent numbers both in the WTC and IPL. His skillset is so massive that you simply cannot just keep him away from the game.
Axar Patel has been exceptional with the bat and would continue to be a part of the Indian squad, given his wicket-taking knack that he put up on full display in whatever games from whatever format he has played so far.
Bowlers: Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami
Yuzvendra Chahal is someone who gets whacked around a lot but Yuzi is a wicket-taking bowler and that is one of the biggest aspects of why he should be a part of the tournament considering his wicket-taking ability in Indian conditions.
Kuldeep Yadav is another livewire when it comes to taking wickets in the Indian conditions and hence once again that Kul-Cha pair can be crucial for India heading towards the World Cup.
Mohammed Siraj is in the form of his life and he would be one of the favourites heading into the tournament given his late rise and the last year has been simply a blazing testimony to his meteoric performances.
Jasprit Bumrah is expected to be fit shortly and with the reports coming in, he would be steaming full ahead into the World Cup. With the flat conditions in India, you would need some one to bang the deck hard and also crush a few toes.
Mohammed Shami has been jilting with the ball moving both ways and when it comes to spearheading the bowling unit, his experience is of the highest order. Let’s expect that India doesn’t miss out the trick at all.
