3 Players who could have been considered ahead of Mayank Agarwal

With six wins in eight matches, the Indian team has cemented their semi-final spot in the ongoing 2019 cricket world cup. The Men in Blue have played smart cricket and have been tremendous in the pressure situations.

The usual suspects - Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been the backbone of the team. Sharma now jointly holds the record for most hundreds in an edition (4) with Kumar Sangakkara who had scored four back to back hundreds in 2015. Kohli has been in good form with 5 fifties in 7 innings. Jasprit Bumrah has been the leader of the bowling attack and has been unplayable at the death. Burmah has found an able partner in Mohammed Shami who has taken 14 wickets in just 4 games.

Players like Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav have all had their moments and the blues seem on course for what could be a potential third world cup title. However, Virat Kohli and the team management have been troubled by one thing throughout the tournament - injuries.

Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar have both been ruled out of the tournament. Bhuvneshwar Kumar missed 2 matches due to a leg injury that he picked up while bowling against Pakistan.

Rishabh Pant, the explosive wicket-keeper batsmen was called in to replace his Delhi Capitals teammate - Shikhar Dhawan. Pant has featured in 2 games thus far with scores of 32 and 48. However, when India announced their replacement for Vijay Shankar, many were left confused. The BCCI named Karnataka opening batsmen Mayank Agarwal as the replacement for Shankar in the UK. Agarwal, an aggressive opener has never featured in an ODI for India. He made his debut in the test series against Australia in Dec-Jan but has never featured in the coloured clothing. Also as Shankar is a middle-order batsman, many Indian batsmen have the right to feel a little hard done by.

Here’s a list of 3 batsmen who could have been picked instead of Agarwal:

#3 Ajinkya Rahane

One of the many players to be tried by the management at number 4 is the Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane was given an extended run by MS Dhoni at number 4 and even batted at that position on the 2015 World Cup. He was subsequently dropped because of his inability to rotate the strike in the middle overs and the team management made it clear that he would have to break into the team as an opener.

However, after some good performances at the top of the order, the team management again gave Rahane the cursed number 4 position for the series in South Africa. The Rajasthan Royals batsmen scored 140 runs at an average of 35 in the series and was subsequently dropped from the team. Rahane has not featured for India ever since.

In a tournament like the World Cup, the experience is very important. Rahane with his prior experience of having played in the World Cup would have been a good option. Moreover, he has been in the UK for the past month as he has been playing county cricket for Hampshire and would have been well accustomed to the conditions in the UK.

England Lions v India A - Tri-Series International

#2 Shreyas Iyer

One player whose reputation has grown leaps and bounds in 2019 is Shreyas Iyer. The Mumbai batsman was also in the group of players tried by Virat Kohl in the middle order, but he failed to cement his place.

Iyer is a counter-attacking top-order player and there has been no doubt in his ability. He has had issues with his temperament but his newfound composure has made him a different player altogether. The Delhi Capitals captain showed great maturity and calmness while leading his team, which was one of the primary reasons for the Capitals having a successful season.

Iyer has had many tours with India A to the UK with some success. Time spent with Rahul Dravid has certainly helped him tighten up the mental aspect of his game. Moreover, he has been successful at number 4 and would have been the perfect like for like replacement for Vijay Shankar.

Australia v India: Carlton Mid ODI Tri Series - Game 5

#1 Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu’s case has been one of the most peculiar cases in Indian cricket. He burst onto the scene in the 2004 U19 world cup and was touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket. Rayadu had to wait 9 years before he finally made his debut against Zimbabwe in 2013 and ironically he batted at number 4 in that game.

Over the past 15 months, Ambati Rayudu has been India’s number 4 for most games. He had a good Asia Cup and followed that with an outstanding home series against the Windies. The team management, the captain and the vice-captain publicly backed him and many felt he had sealed his position for the 2019 World Cup. Rayudu even retired from first-class cricket to focus only on the white ball game and more importantly the World Cup.

However, things changed very soon. Rayudu had poor away tours to Australia and New Zealand. He scored 214 runs in seven games and only 33 runs in 3 innings against Australia at home. Moreover, with the arrival of young players like Rishabh Pant and Vijay Shankar made it difficult for Rayudu to cement his place in the team. The team finally zeroed in on Shankar and Rayudu was named as one of the standby players.

Post the injury to Shankar, Rayudu would have been the perfect player to fill the number 4 spot. He has experience and is a very smart cricketer. The Hyderabad batsman reads the game well and could have had a fairytale ending to his career.

Post Agarwal’s announcement, Ambati Rayudu decided to move on from international cricket and decided to retire.