With the Champions Trophy now over, all teams will begin planning for the 2019 World Cup. Interesting details have emerged and teams have understood the weaknesses that they can now work on in the long run.
All plans will now be drawn up keeping in mind the World Cup and India too are gearing up for the tournament after their good performance in the Champions Trophy. India, however, face a few selection dilemmas because of the wealth of talent they possess.
Also read: 5 Indian players who should be groomed for the 2019 World Cup
Some new faces need to be tried out now and some hard decisions taken, keeping in mind Mission 2019. Who are the players who might miss out?
Here are five Indian stars who might not make it to the 2019 World Cup. Some very big names make it to this list.
#5 Dinesh Karthik
A man who has been out of the ODI team but back now in the squad because of a good domestic record, time seems to be running out for Dinesh Karthik. Once the automatic choice for India behind the stumps, Karthik struggled for selection ever since the emergence of MS Dhoni.
He has had to remodel himself as a specialist batsman to improve his chances of making it into the squad. Though he has been on the fringes for some time now, the last match he played was against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup in 2014. Although he was in the squad for the Champions Trophy, everyone was sure that he would only be used as a benchwarmer.
With the likes of Rahane getting runs and Manish Pandey and KL Rahul set to return, it is just a matter of time before Karthik slips into oblivion. Even if Dhoni is not available, the selectors might look at other options like Pant, Samson or even Rahul to don the gloves.
Mission 2019 seems impossible for Karthik at the moment and he might well be overlooked soon. He has to consider himself unlucky to have played during the era of the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman that India have ever produced.
#4 Kedar Jadhav
A brilliant cricketer with a fantastic domestic record who has got a chance in the international arena at a relatively later stage in his career, Kedar Jadhav has been roped in to play a finisher’s role.
He is one of the few cricketers to have retained his position from the low-profile Zimbabwe tour where he scored an eye-catching century. Jadhav was slotted in as an extra batsman in India’s Champions Trophy squad to ease the pressure on Dhoni and Yuvraj in the middle order.
Though Jadhav has not done much wrong and got very few opportunities to bat, the jury is still out on him. The main problem with him is that there is confusion about his role as he might be better suited to batting higher up the order.
The other problem is whether India can afford to play a pure batsman at no. 6 who just could slip in a few overs because most teams prefer an all-rounder in that position. There is strong belief that Jadhav is playing a stop-gap role at the moment but he might not be the best option in the long run.
#3 Suresh Raina
A couple of years ago, when Dhoni expressed his desire to bat higher up the order and the mantle of finishing was supposed to be passed on to someone else, Suresh Raina was the most likely candidate to take on that role.
Raina had done it successfully for many years, as he would come in down the order and start hitting the ball from the word go. In T20s, his record has been terrific as well, where he has preferred batting at no. 3.
But Raina could not grab the opportunities he got and from the end of 2015, began struggling for form and fitness. His vulnerabilities against the short ball led to his downfall on many occasions.
Raina has been out of the reckoning for some time now and the fact that he has not been handed a central BCCI contract and not even picked for the ongoing tour of the West Indies does not augur well for him.
It does look like it is curtains for his ODI career and it would almost be impossible for him to make a comeback for 2019.
#2 Yuvraj Singh
The master of comebacks in modern Indian cricket, Yuvraj Singh has been a terrific player for over a decade now. He was in the prime of his life in the 2011 World Cup, where he was adjudged the Player of the Tournament, however, things went downhill for him ever since he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
After a brave battle and recovery, Yuvraj’s return to the international arena has been laced with passion and emotion. But he has had a stop-start career since then, being dropped repeatedly and having to make heroic comebacks.
His great domestic form ensured his selection to the Champions Trophy but his form since then has been less than confusing. When Yuvraj does hit the ball, as he did against Pakistan in the first game, there is simply no stopping him.
But he has struggled since then and has looked less than assured at the start of innings. Time might be running out for the stylish south-paw and there are major doubts over whether he could go the distance till 2019.
#1 MS Dhoni
Perhaps the most controversial addition to this list which will surely divide opinion, MS Dhoni is going through a lean patch in his illustrious career which might well be coming to a close. Though Dhoni has always calmly faced criticism in his career, the jury is out on him now like never before.
Dhoni is no longer the finisher that he was and wants to play the role of a clever grafter in the middle order. His calmness, experience, and wicket-keeping abilities make him an invaluable asset.
But the question remains how long can experience and a good record see him through. He still plays the odd good knock but is simply not consistent enough. He slows down the innings considerably after he comes into bat which means if he does not stay till the end, the deficit is never quite made up.
Rishabh Pant is already being groomed as the next best wicket-keeper batsman and Sanju Samson is not far behind. KL Rahul is almost certain to return to the side once he recovers from his injury and he is more than capable of keeping wickets. Manish Pandey also deserves more opportunities as a finisher – a role he has excelled in already – and Hardik Pandya is a valued addition in the finisher’s role.
The point now is that there are much better options in the lower middle order for India than Dhoni and the pressure on him is bound to keep mounting with every failure. Never a placeholder, trust MSD to surprise everyone and walk away if he feels he is not up to it.
He did it in Tests in the middle of a series and handed over the captaincy to Virat Kohli when he felt the time was right. He might well surprise us again before 2019.
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