Five Indian Batsmen who are likely to miss ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

Moving towards the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, all teams are gearing up and setting up cricketing tours, preparing schedules in order to give good exposure to their players, leading towards the big tournament.

Indian cricket team are currently playing England at the latter's home turf and so far, have not done as well as they would have liked. After beating the hosts 2-1 in T20Is series, the Men in Blue subsequently lost the three-match ODI series 2-1 and the long-cherished dream of winning a test series away in England will continue to remain unfulfilled in the near future.

The silver lining is that India's current ODI side looks like a settled bunch of players who are nearly-certain to be part of India's squad for the 2019 World Cup, which is less than a year away. However, there are still a few players who might be hopeful of a call-up to the World Cup squad but look increasingly unlikely to make the cut. The article features five such batsmen:

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Yuvraj Singh

While he did hit sixes and fours in this IPL 2018, but they came on an average of just one boundary per inning. He failed to get going in his innings and got dismissed cheaply on many occasions. The biggest testament to his poor form is his highest score in IPL 2018 which was a mere 20. He played at a strike rate of under 90 and has been unable to build a long inning.

The stylish left-handed batsman got opportunities in the 2014 and 2016 World T20s as well, but he was unsuccessful in returning to his match-winning best. Everything adds up to only one thing- Yuvraj Singh, the one Indians knew is long gone and the one we see today is just a shadow of what vintage Yuvi was. Despite his best efforts, it is unlikely that he gets the selectors' nod for any of the upcoming limited-overs series for India.

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Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa faces stiff competition for a spot in the national team

Robin Uthappa was fondly remembered as the walking assassin of the Indian team, who used to just walk in at number 6 or 7 and hammer the bowlers black and blue. Unfortunately for him, a lean patch in his batting followed which made him lose his place in the national team. It became very serious as his worth as a batsman kept deteriorating with time, and he even considered quitting the game for good, as once told by him.

He has since proved to be a remarkable team player, who has always kept his team above his personal self. One of the remarkable example of the same being his selfless supporting knock as Rohit Sharma went on to hammer his way to a historic 264 in an ODI match against Sri Lanka. It was the Kannada batsman who gave him a single every time he got the opportunity in order for Rohit Sharma to be on strike. Uthappa was himself capable of hitting the ball out of the park but chose otherwise.

He reconstructed his own batting style and has turned into a calm and elegant opener, who can play long innings and also smash the ball when required. The same transformation required immense courage and patience. IPL 2014 was a revelation for all spectators and fans, as Uthappa announced his grand comeback to the list of star players and played a massive role in KKR's title win while opening the innings with captain Gautam Gambhir.

The sad part though is that he faces stiff competition with upcoming bright Indian starlets in the form of Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, and Sarfaraz Khan in addition to plenty others waiting in line. For Robin Uthappa, it is likely that he, may not get a chance to wear Indian colors again.

Gautam Gambhir

gambhir has played a massive role in Indian Cricket's recent successes

If MS Dhoni has been the mind and force behind India's trophy collection, then Gautam Gambhir was the batting powerhouse, who always rose up to take responsibility of the Indian innings every time his team needed him, and more often than not, on the biggest of stages. If one remembers any recent success of Indian cricket team, the Delhi powerhouse will feature in that trip down memory lane. Gambhir's most memorable innings came in the finals of the inaugural T20 world cup in 2007 and nobody could forget his knock in the finals of ICC Cricket World cup 2011.

However, all the achievements, be it in International Cricket, or as a captain of his former IPL team KKR, now seem irrelevant as age seems to have gotten the better of him. He sat out this season of IPL after a poor run as a captain and batsman in the first few matches with Delhi Daredevils. He has not been consistent in the domestic circuit either, and now that the selectors are looking at younger prospects such as Ishan Kishan and Prithvi Shaw, it is pretty likely that his journey as a player in Indian cricket team is over.

Dinesh Karthik

Karthik has struggled to find form in England

Having been around in the National circuit since 2004, Dinesh Karthik struggled to become the kind of dependable wicketkeeper-batsman that Indian cricket team craved for when he made his debut. He and Parthiv Patel had been the wicketkeeping choices of the Indian side after Rahul Dravid opted not to keep wickets anymore, but the two failed to cement their place in the side, leading to the advent of MS Dhoni, who made his opportunity count and took to the big stage as fish takes to water.

It was only as a pure Batsman that Karthik would be able to break into the Indian side because of MS Dhoni being the first choice wicketkeeper. Karthik did manage to make comebacks on multiple occasions, including the 2013 Champions Trophy, but always disappeared from the International setup soon after due to inconsistency.

It was this year in 2018 that he made a comeback to the side and announced himself as a floater; someone who could bat at any position and still contribute. He smashed a staggering 29 off 8 balls to take India over the line in the Nidahas Trophy final, coming in to bat at 7 and hitting a six off the last ball. He continued his sublime form in the IPL too, where he played some good innings at number 4 and some fabulous cameos and providing a flourishing finish to his side after coming in to bat at no. 5.

He has shown immense resilience, hard work, and determination over the course of his career. However, the unfortunate part is that the World Cup squad will be a 15 man squad. And with Dhoni as the wicketkeeper and Rishabh Pant potentially as a second wicketkeeping option, there is not a very bright chance that India would pick the swashbuckling Batsman from Tamil Nadu.

Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane's career has hit a new low as he is struggling to find form in all the formats of the game. Although he is still a very important part of the Indian Test side, he has struggled even in the longest format of the game. The silver lining though is his improvement in form in the recent test series being played in England. Rahane's IPL 2018 campaign was forgettable and his abilities to cope up with the pace of the game have been seriously questioned.

Being technically strong, Rahane always had an edge over other batsmen while being selected for any XI. The unfortunate part is that Rahane has struggled to gain any kind of form in all formats of the game.

KL Rahul has proven to be more than capable in all formats and his ability to play multiple positions in the batting order has earned him a place in the Indian cricket team. Moreover, with the emergence of likes of Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer, who have a proven track record in limited-overs cricket, Rahane's future as a limited-overs batsman looks bleak. The Maharashtrian batsman's prospects do not seem the brightest in terms of his participation in ICC World Cup 2019.