IPL 2019: Five Indian players who need a good tournament to confirm a place in the World Cup squad

#1 Rishabh Pant

India v Australia - ODI Series: Game 4

If anyone is desperate to have a smashing IPL 2019, then it has to be Rishabh Pant. Pant has been under a lot of pressure since the day he has made his debut for team India. His performance is always directly being compared with that of the great MS Dhoni.

In Test cricket, Pant has definitely made his mark with a century each in England and Australia. But his limited over's career seems to be going wayward at the moment. He is finding it hard to get going and looked clueless about his role with the bat.

In the recently concluded series against Australia, Dhoni was rested for the last two ODIs and Pant was picked. Those two matches were Pant's golden opportunity to pull the attention of the selectors but unfortunately, he failed both with the bat and the gloves. The worst happened in Mohali when he missed a stumping of Ashton Turner and crowd chanted "Dhoni! Dhoni!" Eventually, India lost the match because of a superb knock by Turner.

Pant's stats in the five ODIs that he has played so far are not worth a mention. In fact, it would be very harsh to judge him in this very few number of matches.

The Indian middle order is desperately crying for improvement. So any player who looks to be in good touch with the bat could make it to the team. The IPL 2019 seems now to be the only opportunity for Pant to catch the eye of the selectors.