Former cricketers and experts pick their Indian squad for the World Cup

Will Robin Uthappa make the cut?

With the Indian team for the World Cup set to be selected later today, a lot of former cricketers and experts have weighed in with their opinion on what the team should look like. Here are what some of the experts think:

Rahul Dravid

The Indian batting great has gone with the norm when it comes to the batsmen and fast bowlers. He has picked Akshar Patel as the third spinner behind R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the squad.

Dravid has gone with an all-rounder in Stuart Binny ahead of a reserve wicket-keeper. The selectors seemed to have taken Dravid’s advice while picking the Test team for the tour of Australia, by picking KL Rahul and Karn Sharma as suggested by the Bangalorean. It’ll be interesting if the selection committee follow suit here.

Squad: MS Dhoni [c], Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, R Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar has sprung a surprise in his squad by including Haryana pacer Mohit Sharma ahead of India’s most experienced bowler Ishant Sharma. Mohit strengthened his case by picking up a hat-trick in a Ranji Trophy match against Delhi at Lahli today.

Gavaskar, just like Dravid, has selected his squad without a reserve wicket-keeper.

Squad: MS Dhoni [c], Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, R Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Kapil Dev

World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has surprised everyone with his team selection by not picking off-spinner R Ashwin. The 56-year-old has selected Karn Sharma ahead of the Tamil Nadu bowler.

Kapil, unlike Gavaskar and Dravid, has gone in with Robin Uthappa as a backup to MS Dhoni in the squad, which leaves Stuart Binny out of the reckoning.

Squad: MS Dhoni [c], Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly, who led India to the World Cup final in 2003, has decided to pick 5 fast bowlers in his squad. The former Indian captain feels that an extra pacer would be more helpful for India’s cause on the pitches of Australia and New Zealand as opposed to picking a third spinner in Akshar Patel.

Squad: MS Dhoni [c], Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Harsha Bhogle

Indian cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle has picked the same squad as Dravid. He reasoned out his decision to pick Stuart Binny over Robin Uthappa on Twitter, saying: “Big part of me wants to see Uthappa in there. Games in New Zealand pushed me towards Binny.”

Squad: MS Dhoni [c], Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, R Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

The selection I agonised most over was, predictably, no 15. Big part of me wants to see Uthappa in there.Games in NZ pushed me towards Binny

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 5, 2015