5 Players who can seal World Cup spot by impressing in Vijay Hazare trophy

The Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018-19, which began from 19th September, kick-started India’s domestic season this year. A total of 160 fifty-over matches will be played from September 19 to October 20. With the World Cup less than 9 months away and the Indian team far from settled, it provides an excellent opportunity for India’s World Cup hopefuls to stake their claim for India’s squad for 2019 World Cup in England.

As suggested by Rohit Sharma, a number of places in the playing XI are up for grabs. Two batting slots at number 4 and number 6, the all-rounder’s slot at number 7 and a back up fast bowler slot is still available with none of the incumbent players nailing down their places in the squad. Let us take a look at some of the players that can cement their places in India’s ODI team with impressive performances in the ongoing Vijay Hazare trophy.

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#5 Ajinkya Rahane

There has been a curious case of Ajinkya Rahane when it comes to India’s 50-over team. While Rahane acts as the deputy of Virat Kohli in the longer format of the game, in 50-over cricket he can’t even find a spot for himself in the squad despite having a healthy average of 35 in ODIs.

Rahane has the technique to excel in England and his stellar record overseas only makes his claim stronger. To go along with that, Rahane is a gun fielder. If he can churn up the runs for Mumbai this year, it would be very hard for the selectors to ignore him. Rahane has begun on the right note with a 79 against Baroda in Mumbai’s first match.

#4 Mohammed Siraj

Mohammed Siraj has been in outstanding form of late. The tall pacer from Hyderabad delivered many match winning spells for India ‘A’ in the recent tour of England. He was also very impressive against the touring South Africa ‘A’ side, picking up 14 wickets from two matches.

Siraj has also added a yard of pace to his bowling. The likes of Shardul Thakur, Siddharth Kaul have been very inconsistent with their performances and if Siraj can repeat his heroics with the white ball as well, he would be on the flight to England.

#3 Shreyas Iyer

The number four slot in the Indian batting lineup has been lying vacant for quite some time now. India has tried Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, and KL Rahul at that spot but none of them could cement their place in the team. Shreyas Iyer has played 6 ODIs for India over the period of last two years.

He got two fifties against Sri Lanka last year but mediocre outings in South Africa cost him his place in the team. Shreyas bats at number 4 for his domestic team Mumbai and is a natural fit for the number 4 slot. If the 23-year-old can hammer big runs in the Vijay Hazare trophy, he may realize his dream of playing the 50-over World Cup for India.

#2 Krunal Pandya

The third spinner’s spot in Indian squad is currently held by Axar Patel. In the limited opportunities that Patel has been given, he has not done anything of note. He is more of a bowling all-rounder while India has been looking for an all-rounder that can tonk big runs down the order. This is where Krunal Pandya comes in.

The elder brother of Hardik Pandya, Krunal has been consistent for the Mumbai Indians in the past few seasons of IPL. He has the swag of Yuvraj Singh in his batting and can play effective cameos down the order. He is also pretty handy with the ball (ask AB De Villiers). Krunal may also occupy brother Hardik’s all-rounder slot in the playing XI.

#1 Rishabh Pant

Time and again Indian batting lineup has failed to capitalize on strong starts provided by the top order. The lower middle order lacks in muscle and fails to accelerate in the death overs. The decay in MS Dhoni’s batting over the past few years has only made the situation worse. The ferocious hitting abilities of the pocket-sized dynamo Rishabh Pant may help India in solving this problem.

Pant made everyone take note of his batting by smashing a century against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, the best attack in the IPL. Pant has strong power in his arms and can clear the boundary ropes with ridiculous ease. His counter-attacking century in the fourth innings against England at the Oval has only made his claim stronger. He can also act as an effective backup keeper.