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Indian Premier League has always been the platform for players to prove their worth. There have been many instances where an out of form player gets his groove and comes back to the national side. Australia tour of India 2019 ended in a disappointing fashion for India.
Not only they lost both the ODI and T20I series but some of their experiments failed. A team's loss in their home conditions before a tournament like the World Cup is like a rude alarm. The team even lost a T20I series to New Zealand recently.
Because of the loses, the Indian team would be questioning their choice of players ahead of the World Cup and some of their important strategies in approaching the game.
Indian Premier League might be a place where some of the Indian players show their impressive performance. IPL would be benefitting not just for the World Cup probable players but also for IPL regulars who are in danger of getting lost in the shuffle.
Fighting the demons from the past to end up strong is not easy. These Indian players have to do exactly that. Let us look at five such fighters to see if they would turn to be survivors.
#5 Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh had a disappointing IPL 2018 season. He was roped in by Kings XI Punjab at the 2018 auctions. As an experienced player much was expected from Yuvraj Singh, however, he failed to live up to his hype.
The veteran batsman was featured in just eight matches and scored 65 runs. His unimpressive outing in the 2018 IPL was also one of the reasons why he is ignored by the Indian national team ahead of 2019 World Cup. Kings XI also released him after IPL 2018.
The IPL journey is not over for Yuvi though as he would play for Mumbai Indians this season. It is yet to be seen how much chances he will get in the playing XI. If the 37-year-old proves to be exceptional then the team can be confident to retain him for at least the next season.
#4 Umesh Yadav
Umesh Yadav was India's highest wicket-taker in World Cup 2015. He got 18 wickets in the tournament and was the third highest wicket-taker across teams. Such an impressive World Cup bowler was given a small chance to make his case right in time before the 2019 edition.
Yadav was picked in India's T20I squad in Australia's tour of India 2019. However, his performance in the first match proved India that he is not worth consideration. Umesh conceded 35 runs in just 4 overs. He bowled the final over where Australia needed 14 runs.
With just 3 wickets in hand, the Aussies managed to exploit Yadav's poor death bowling performance. He was not selected to play the next match. Now the 31-year-old will play for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
His IPL 2019 playing opportunities seem to be uncertain as he failed to get the trust of Virat recently. However, being an experienced Indian bowler might give him some extra edge for selection in the RCB playing XI.
#3 Rishabh Pant
India giving frequent chances for Rishabh Pant showed signs of the youngster getting picked for the World Cup 2019 squad. MS Dhoni got rested for the final two ODIs in Australia's tour of India 2019. Thus, Pant had a golden opportunity to fill the shoes of the legend.
The 21-year-old displayed a promising batting at the 4th ODI, scoring 36 runs off 24 balls. However, his wicketkeeping was mediocre at its best. Pant missed two crucial stumpings in that match including the stumping of the match winner Ashton Turner.
The Indian fans who saw a top-notch wicketkeeping over the years from MS Dhoni started trolling the young lad on Twitter. The high pressure seemed to affect Pant on the fifth ODI where he managed to get just 16 runs.
Delhi Capitals is yet to win an IPL trophy. They finished at the bottom of the points table during the last season. Pant's recent setback and Delhi's unimpressive IPL records pose major challenges for the youngster in the 2019 IPL.
#2 Dinesh Karthik
The Tamil Nadu talent Dinesh Karthik spent most of his cricketing abilities in the sidelines, courtesy of MS Dhoni. It is a huge misfortune that Karthik chose to be a wicket-keeper in the era of the World Cup-winning captain and the era's best international wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
However, Karthik's good fortune seemed to start as he played a match-winning knock at the Nidahas Trophy finals against Bangladesh. He became a sensation due to his 29* runs from just 8 balls. He was picked by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise as a result. Karthik was even made the captain of the side.
Team India started giving him opportunities in the playing XI to prove himself ahead of World Cup 2019. Just like one match made him a sensation another match hurt his reputation.
The final T20I match in India's tour of New Zeland 2019 put Dinesh Karthik in a very unfortunate situation. With Dinesh Karthik and Krunal Pandya in the crease, the team needed 16 runs off the final over. Karthik refused to give a single to Krunal in that over with the hope of repeating Nidahas. His overconfidence did not pay him dividends as India lost the match.
After the match, Karthik got excluded from India's ODI squad against Australia. With fewer hopes of entering the World Cup, the KKR captain will lead his side. Let us hope that he puts a solid case for World Cup selection through his leadership and batting.
#1 Ambati Rayudu
IPL 2018 made Ambati Rayudu into a star. The Mumbai Indians batsman was bought by Chennai Super Kings for ₹2.2 crores. He was given the role of an opening batsman in the 2018 season. The management showed complete confidence in Rayudu to handle that role.
As a result, Rayudu went on to score the most runs for CSK. The dashing batsman notched up 602 runs from 16 matches with an average of 43.00 and a strike rate of 149.75. Indian national team who monitored this IPL veteran gave him some opportunities in the side.
He was given a very tough duty of being a number-four batsman for team India. The role left many World Cup probable players to lose their spot in the national team. Rayudu was a bit good in that position till Australia's tour of India 2019.
The 33-year-old played 12 out of 19 ODIs in that position since making a comeback till Australia's tour of India and scored 431 runs at an average of 53.89. However, the Aussies exploited the weakness of Rayudu to the maximum.
He was puzzled by Adam Zampa's leg spin and Pat Cummins' pace attack. 13, 18 and 2 were the runs for him in the three matches he played. Rayudu would be eyeing to give his best for Chennai Super Kings and win the trust of the selectors for good.
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