India vs Australia 2019: 3 Disruptive mistakes made by Indian selectors ahead of the ICC World Cup 2019

Cricket fans across the globe are preparing themselves to witness the biggest cricketing event on the planet, the ICC World Cup 2019. Over the past few years, teams have worked immensely to prepare a robust team for the event and now, with just a few months remaining, the moment of truth has come to announce their respective 15 cricketing jewels for the marquee event.

For India, the team of selectors led by chief selector MSK Prasad in collaboration with Indian captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri has done their bit by identifying the talented players and giving them the opportunity to showcase their skill. So much so, that at times, they have even been criticized by cricket experts for over experimenting and not showing enough confidence in the selected players.

Nevertheless, it appears that their plans have worked and they have managed to successfully establish a pool of talented players to choose for the mega event. Though the majority of the players pick themselves based on their prolific performances over the past few years, there are still few places available.

Just a few days back, the selectors announced the team for the upcoming home series against Australia. Though few changes were expected some certainly came up as a surprise. If these changes are anything to go by towards the selection for the 15 member squad for the ICC World Cup 2019, these changes can be ‘disruptive’ and can have an adverse impact on the eventual outcome.

Selection of KL Rahul

KL Rahul

The selectors have once again given an opportunity to KL Rahul by including him in the squad for the upcoming home series against Australia. For now, it appears that they are certainly looking at him as a back-up opener that can also double up for No.4 slot when needed. Without any doubt, the Karnataka opener has great potential however he has had a very poor run throughout 2018 with just two centuries and two half-centuries in across all three formats (Tests, ODIs, and T20Is). Currently, he is certainly very low on confidence and unless he does not perform miraculously (and not just one inning) in upcoming series, the selectors should not add him to the World Cup squad.

Dropping Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik

In a very recent press release, India’s chief selector MSK Prasad very clearly announced the battle between the experienced Dinesh Karthik and the young Rishabh Pant for a place in the World Cup squad. Though both are extremely talented players and will double up for the role of wicket-keeper, Dinesh is by far more suited for the squad. Over the years, he has worked on his temperament and has gained an immense level of maturity – a very important facet for such a high-intensity event. Most importantly, despite the fact India has few hard hitters in form of Kedhar Jhadav and Hardik Pandya to accelerate the scoring rate at the back end of the inning, he has emerged into an excellent ‘finisher’ for Team India, after MS Dhoni’s deterioration and have lead India to many victories in the recent past. The selectors will certainly regret dropping him out of Team India.

Dropping Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja

Even though, the pitches at the World Cup are expected to support pace bowling yet spinners will have a vital role to play especially in the middle overs. In the past few years, Team India has been blessed with the discovery of the young spin duo ‘Kul-Cha’, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. They have demolished every opposition around the world and are certain to play every world cup game. Yet, the selectors should probably not be solely dependent on them and should certainly take along a suitable replacement.

Very recently, Ravindra Jadeja, a regular spinner for India Test side, made a comeback to India’s ODI team after a year at the Asia Cup 2018 and once again, have displayed his invaluable all-around cricket skills. By not choosing him for India’s squad against Australia, the selectors have taken a wrong call. With his experience and expertise, he is certainly an ‘impact player’ and dropping him out is nothing but a big mistake.

The selectors are currently experiencing a very interesting issue – A problem of plenty however they need to address the situation prudently to maximize on this opportunity. Creating a pool of excellent players is a job only half complete; the other half of the job is to select the best 15 players for the most prestigious tournament, the ICC World Cup 2019.

By the look of things, it appears that the selectors have made few blunders with their team selection for home series against Australia however they still have some time to reflect upon their decision and eventually, make the wise judgment.