Statistical breakdown of India's World Cup squad

The Indian squad for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was announced earlier today. While the selection didn’t throw many surprises, there was a lot of outrage over the exclusion of players like Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, and Robin Uthappa. Here, we break down the composition of the team to see where the team stands in terms of experience in what is a very young team. We also look at which domestic teams have the most representation in the side.

#1 World Cup experience

The Indian team is very short in terms of experience at cricket’s biggest tournament. Only four members of this squad have represented India at the World Cup before, with only captain MS Dhoni playing at multiple World Cups.

Number of World Cup appearances

2 – MS Dhoni

1 – Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Suresh Raina

0 – Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajiinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Stuart Binny, Akshar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami

Number of World Cup matches played

12 – MS Dhoni

9 – Virat Kohli

4 – Suresh Raina

2 – R Ashwin

0 – Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajiinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Stuart Binny, Akshar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami

#2 Age breakdown

This is a young team with only two players who have crossed the age of 30. MS Dhoni is the oldest member of the squad at the age of 33, with Akshar Patel at 20 the youngest.

The average age of the squad is 26.86 years.

20-24 years: Akshar Patel (20), Mohammed Shami (24), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (24)

25-29 years: Ravindra Jadeja (26), Virat Kohli (26), Ishant Sharma (26), Ajinkya Rahane (26), Umesh Yadav (27), Rohit Sharma (27), Suresh Raina (28), R Ashwin (28), Shikhar Dhawan (29), Ambati Rayudu (29)

30-34 years: Stuart Binny (30), MS Dhoni (33)

#3 Ranji Trophy team-wise representation

Delhi had the most representation in India’s World Cup-winning team in 2011. The capital city contributed four players (Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Ashish Nehra) back then, but only Kohli finds himself in favour these days. Despite this, Delhi still have the most players in the squad with Shikhar Dhawan and Ishant Sharma, the new names.

Reigning Ranji Trophy champions have one representative in the team, in the form of all-rounder Stuart Binny

Players per Ranji Trophy team

Delhi – 3 (Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma)

Mumbai – 2 (Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane)

Uttar Pradesh – 2 (Suresh Raina, Bhuvneshwar Kumar)

Jharkhand – 1 (MS Dhoni)

Karnataka – 1 (Stuart Binny)

Tamil Nadu – 1 (R Ashwin)

Gujarat – 1 (Akshar Patel)

Baroda – 1 (Ambati Rayudu)

Vidarbha – 1 (Umesh Yadav)

Saurashtra – 1 (Ravindra Jadeja)

West Bengal – 1 (Mohammed Shami)

#4 IPL team-wise representation

It’ll come as no surprise that the most successful Indian Premier League team – Chennai Super Kings – have the highest number of players in the squad. Sunrisers Hyderabad, despite mixed performances in the IPL, have 3 names in the squad which indicates that they have a strong spine.

Players per IPL team

Chennai Super Kings – 4 (MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja)

Sunrisers Hyderabad – 3 (Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar)

Mumbai Indians – 2 (Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu)

Rajasthan Royals – 2 (Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny)

Royal Challengers Bangalore – 1 (Virat Kohli)

Kings XI Punjab – 1 (Akshar Patel)

Kolkata Knight Riders – 1 (Umesh Yadav)

Delhi Daredevils – 1 (Mohammed Shami)

#5 Statistics

MS Dhoni, being the most experienced player in the team, is also the highest run-scorer in ODIs amongst all players selected in the squad. The bowling, on the other hand, is a little inexperienced with Ravindra Jadeja’s 134 wickets being the highest anyone has picked.

Virat Kohli played a couple of good knocks in the 2011 World Cup and that means that he has scored the most World Cup runs in this squad. R Ashwin, despite playing just 2 matches at World Cups, has taken 4 wickets at the world event which again shows the inexperience of the team.

Most ODI runs: MS Dhoni – 8018 runs

Most ODI wickets: Ravindra Jadeja – 134 wickets

Most World Cup runs: Virat Kohli – 282 runs

Most World Cup wickets: R Ashwin – 4 wickets

NOTE: Only stats from players selected in the Indian squad for the 2015 World Cup have been considered