Analysing the chances of India’s 2011 World Cup winners making a comeback

If you look at the victorious Indian squad from the 2011 World Cup, only 2 (Test captain Virat Kohli and offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin) are currently in the first XI in all three formats. Ashwin has become the premier spinner in the country, and Kohli is arguably India’s best all-round batsman across the three formats.The first thing to do is to look at India’s 2011 World Cup squad. MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Sreesanth, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh.MS Dhoni is still the ODI and T20I captain, but has retired from Tests. Raina is a regular in the limited overs squads, but has been discarded from the longer format; Harbhajan Singh has recently returned to the team and could have at least a bit-part role to play in one-dayers. Of course, some key players are no longer available.Sachin retired with a lot of fanfare 2 years ago, with a specially arranged 200th Test at Mumbai. Virender Sehwag and Zaheer have retired as well recently. So let’s take a look now at the other members of the 2011 World Cup Squad, and see what chances they have of getting back in the national team.

#1 S Sreesanth

Sreesanth's career took a turn for the worse after spot-fixing scandal

There’s a Paulo Coelho quote: “Life moves very fast. It rushes from Heaven to Hell in a matter of seconds”. This would probably apply to Sreesanth.

Always controversial, he hit his nadir when he received a life ban from playing cricket for spot fixing. Though he proclaims that he will play international cricket again, a combination of the fixing situation (how can players trust him even if his ban is revoked?), his age (almost 33) and quite frankly, a mediocre bowling record, will ensure that he never comes close to playing international cricket again.

Chances of a comeback: 0/10

#2 Piyush Chawla

Chawla faces an uphill task to keep his place in his Ranji side

Piyush Chawla broke into international cricket as the most promising young spinner after Harbhajan, playing a Test match at the age of 18 in 2006. But despite playing a Test before playing an ODI, you can argue that his brand of fast leg spin bowling is more suitable to the shorter format.

But his debut at 18 is history now, and he has struggled in the Ranji trophy for Uttar Pradesh this season. He has got just 6 wickets in 12 innings and in 8 of those innings, he has been unable to take a wicket. His state captain Suresh Raina has actually warned him that he has to ‘step up’ or he could find himself out of the UP Ranji team!

With the current spinners in the national team (Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar Patel and another leggie Mishra) doing well, and Chawla himself in danger of being dropped from his state team, chances of a national team comeback seem farfetched at the moment.

Chances of a comeback to the ODI and T20 teams: 1/10

#3 Munaf Patel

Munaf hasn't played for India in four years

Munaf Patel took 11 wickets in the 2011 World Cup, but hasn’t played any international cricket in the last 4 years. Patel is 32 now and hasn’t had an IPL contract for the last 2 seasons.

However, he seems satisfied just being part of the Baroda Ranji team, where he excels, opening the bowling with another ex-India pacer whose career has gone downhill, Irfan Pathan. A recall to the national team seems highly unlikely, given that he has lost a lot of pace, and is a far cry from the young bowler who was once compared to Glenn McGrath.

Chances of a comeback: 1.5/10

#4 Ashish Nehra

Nehra can still deliver an accurate yorker

The admirable thing about Nehra is that at 36, even after all his injuries, he is still able to bowl at 137-138 kph regularly. The left-armer had an excellent IPL, bowling especially well in the ‘death’ overs. He was able to get a lot of yorkers in at decent pace, which not many other Indian bowlers do.

This led Nehra to say that he was good enough to play for India again. But as he himself observed in an interview with ESPNCricinfo earlier this year, a huge number of bowlers have played for India since the 2011 World Cup, but not him. Though he may have got a rough deal, it seems inconceivable that he will be picked for India again suddenly at 36.

Chances of a comeback to the ODI and T20 teams: 3.5/10

#5 Yusuf Pathan

Yusuf still has a chance to make into the squad for World T20

Yusuf Pathan, Munaf’s teammate at Baroda and Irfan’s brother, is also seemingly completely off the radar of the national selectors. Though his off-spin is pretty handy and on his day, he can strike the ball as well as anyone, you can argue that he isn’t the best player against pace or swing. Also, he hasn’t had the greatest of seasons domestically.

Considering that Yusuf is 33 and that his skill set is best suited to T20 cricket, it is safe to say that he will not pull on an Indian ODI jersey again. And it would take fitness issues for many players, for him to have any chance of even coming into the reckoning for a T20 berth. But stranger things have happened.

Chances of a comeback to the T20 team: 4/10

#6 Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj needs a good domestic season to have a chance of securing a comeback

The player of the tournament in the World Cup as much for his bowling as for his batting, Yuvraj became the first man to take 15 wickets while scoring more than 300 runs in a World Cup tournament. It’s been difficult since then, with him fighting successfully against cancer the following year.

The left-hander had a good run in first-class cricket last season, and is having a decent season currently, without being outstanding. But his List A and T20 form over the last few seasons hasn’t been great.

Despite all his talent, Yuvraj never managed to live up to expectations in Test cricket. And with an upcoming batting allrounder like his Punjab teammate Gurkeerat Singh Mann, and Suresh Raina, ahead in the pecking order, he has little chance of playing Test cricket again.

What he has going for him is that his left arm spin is much better than people sometimes give him credit for. And if he puts in a few decent batting performances in domestic limited overs cricket, there may well be a chance of him being back in the Indian team in the future, maybe even for the World T20.

Chances of a comeback to the T20 team: 6/10

Chances of a comeback to the ODI team: 4.5/10

#7 Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir is arguably the player with the most realistic chance of comeback

Gautam Gambhir was the man who set up the Indian win in the World Cup final, with an excellent 97 batting at number 3. He is also arguably the only player in this list who performed as well in Test cricket as one-day cricket.

Gambhir last played for India in a Test against England in 2014, and that will be a match he will not care to remember, having scored a grand total of 3 runs in 2 innings. But his averages make for good reading (Test: 42.58, ODI: 39.68, First Class: 49.46, List A: 36.95), and he had an excellent Ranji season last year.

He has been a bit inconsistent for Delhi this year though, which must be disappointing for him, as he must know that if he performs, there might be a chance to get into the Test side alongside Murali Vijay. Shikhar Dhawan still isn’t sure of his place, and KL Rahul is inexperienced.

The backup opener spot for the ODI team might be up for grabs too, so Gambhir has a real chance to make it back to one format or the other. However, one other thing to consider is his relationship with Virat Kohli, which, it is fair to say (if the spats in the IPL are anything to go by), is not the best. As Kohli is Test captain, and ODI and T20 vice-captain, will this affect his selection?

Chances of a comeback to the Test team: 7/10

Chances of a comeback to the ODI and T20 teams: 6/10