With the five wise men of Indian cricket and captain Virat Kohli slated to meet on April 15 in Mumbai to pick the final 15
There can be no denial that Team India is one of the strong contenders to win the upcoming World Cup scheduled to be held in England. With the five wise men of Indian cricket and captain Virat Kohli slated to meet on April 15 in Mumbai to pick the final 15, not much is left to be debated apart from No. 4 batting spot and the choice of second all-rounder after Hardik Pandya.
This despite the fact that Pandya has been under the scrutiny of Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) ombudsman following controversial TV talk show two months back. And given the worst case scenario where he might be punished, it may not be so after all or might not be enforced before the end of English summer.
Kohli is busy with his Indian Premier League schedule but as his team Royal Challengers Bangalore is slated to take on Mumbai in its away game, he will join the senior selection committee members on April 15.
Keeping in mind how chairman of selection committee, MSK Prasad, spoke his mind during the last One-day series against Australia, which we lost at home, the choice may be restricted amongst few known faces.
"(List of about) 20-odd players has already been finalised for this purpose and IPL performances would not be looked at before trimming it to 15," Prasad had said.
An ideal playing XI would include five batsmen, a wicket-keeper and a batting all-rounder along with four regular bowlers. The drift from this ideal combination comes when there is a solid second batting all-rounder, who can chip in with his four or five overs at any given situation.
Vijay Shankar, off late, has showed his utility to stake claim for this spot. Though, Kedar Jadhav has also been in a mix due similar capabilities.
Vijay was one of the finds in recent ODI series against Australia, particularly when he along with Kohli smashed the opponent attack to take India out of trouble from 75 for three.
Kohli tried Vijay in each of the five matches against Australia. His ability to rotate strike and play lofted hits along with ability to field at deep has caught team management attention during this home series. His 46-run innings in Nagpur and two for 15 spell might help his cause in making it to the team ahead of Ravindra Jadeja, who is another favourite to accompany the team after his Asia Cup heroics.
The biggest puzzle for Team India has still been the No. 4 batsman. This, more so, after Kohli and team management has tried as many as 11 players since last WC in 2015.
Ambati Rayudu looked to be Kohli's first choice till home series against West Indies last October. However, his patchy form has put selectors to consider others. Delhi's left-handed Rishabh Pant was the last one to be tried at No. 4 against Australia after failing to find an answer in KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik.
Going by an insiders' account, Rayudu still has the best chance to go to England. But a couple of selectors do believe that having a southpaw batsman at No. 4 (Pant) may give Team India an edge to disturb the opponent bowlers' rhythm.
Pant's fearless attitude while batting has impressed everyone so far, despite the fact that his wicket-keeping has been unimpressive.
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