The stage is set for the marquee tournament ICC World Cup 2019, which will begin from May 30. India will lock horns with South Africa in their opening game of the tournament. Indian players are yet to begin their preparations for the World Cup as they are still left with one more match of the IPL 2019.
Virat Kohli-led India are among the frontrunners of the tournament. But, their recent ODI performance has raised some concerns about their batting-lineup. The case of a second-down batsman is still wishy-washy, who is that player, which will fill this loophole and make India's batting line-up concrete? Will it be Kedar Jadhav, KL Rahul or Dinesh Karthik? Only Kohli can answer this question, with which combination he will enter the ground.
Meanwhile, let's have a look at those players who are going to play a pivotal role for India in this flagship tournament. So, here are the players to watch out for India in the World Cup 2019.
#3 Jasprit Bumrah
Arguably, at present, Bumrah is the world's best bowler. His ability to bowl perfect yorkers in the death overs, makes India's death bowling top-class. He has mastered the art of bowling at under pressure situations, which makes him lead India's pace bowling line-up in the World Cup. All eyes will be on this speedster as he's just 15 scalps away from his 100 ODI wickets. Moreover, in 2018, he picked up 22 wickets in 13 ODIs, at an average of 16.63 and an economy of just 3.62.
#2 MS Dhoni
No doubt, India is incomplete without wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni as he holds the key for India's middle-order batting line-up. He's the best advisor Kohli has ever got, be it in terms of DRS, fielding placement or making bowling change. He's also an inspiration to those young guns who are going to make their world cup debut. Maybe, this is going to be his last World Cup and it would be very interesting to watch him play, not only with his bat but also behind the wickets.
#1 Hardik Pandya
This man needs no introduction. He's in a red-hot form and we just saw how deadly he was in the IPL 2019. He smashed 393 runs at a strike rate of 194.55 and has also scalped 14 wickets. He is the key player to watch out for because he has the ability to perform not only with the bat but also with the bowl. He can definitely be a vital cog for captain Kohli in the tournament.
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