Road to ICC World Cup 2019: Finding a backup for Hardik Pandya a must for Team India

The all-important 2019 ICC ODI World Cup is just a few months away. Hence, the upcoming ODI series against Australia and New Zealand have gained further significance as preparation and fine-tuning for the World Cup.

Though India has more or less identified its core set of players and has had backups for most of them, there is one area where the Indian team has not yet found a backup. That is the position of a pace-bowling all-rounder, which is currently occupied by Hardik Pandya.

As the World Cup is going to be held in the pace and swing-friendly pitches of England, a pace-bowling all-rounder is a priceless commodity. Teams like England and New Zealand have a plethora of pace-bowling all-rounders, an area in which India could struggle, and that could be the difference between winning a third World Cup or coming back home disappointed.

Though Kohli and co. have done well in using many ODI tournaments in 2018 including the Asia Cup as preparation for the World Cup, especially in identifying the core team and backup, it is a bit disappointing that there has not been many efforts in identifying and grooming back-ups for the crucial pace-bowling all-rounder slot.

In case there is a dip in form of Pandya or there is some injury concern, then there is no one to fall back on. With only a few months left, it’s high time the selectors looked at this aspect while selecting the team for upcoming Australia and New Zealand ODI series.

The two options that spring up to mind are Shivam Dubey and Vijay Shankar. Dubey is an attacking left-handed batsman who has come for high praise from none other than Sunil Gavaskar. He bowls right-handed and has taken five-wicket hauls in the domestic circuit. He was very much in demand during the recently-concluded IPL auction.

Since Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore bought him after a bidding war with other franchises, it is believed that the Indian captain too rates him highly. So, including him in the ODI squad will help his development as a world-class all-rounder.

Vijay Shankar is the other pace-bowling all-rounder that India could look at. Though he has already got some international exposure during the Nidahas Trophy, he should not be judged only on the basis of a few failures and should be given further chances, especially in the limited overs format.

It will be a missed chance if the selectors decide not to include any back-up for the only pace-bowling all-rounder that Indian team has, at the moment.