Contenders for the Wicket keeper's Slot for India in 2019 World Cup

With the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England less than a year way, the speculations regarding who will make it to the final Indian squad that gets selected for the tournament have already started.

Some players like Virat Kohli Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are guaranteed selections. But there are a few spots in the team for which, there is likely to be fierce competition.

There is the spinner's spot, where the youngsters like Chahal and Kuldeep are competing with veterans like Ashwin and Jadeja, and also the fast bowling department, where there are at least a dozen talented pace men competing for about 4-odd slots.

The wicket-keeper's slot, till recently, was a position where Mahendra Singh Dhoni seemed to be the obvious first choice and it was only a competition between the others for the standby keeper's slot.

However, the recent slump in form of Dhoni has made the Indian middle order look fragile. His inability to score runs at a quick pace has slowed down the run rate in the middle overs and created pressure on his batting partners and the lower middle order.

Moreover, with age not on Dhoni's side and youngsters like Rishabh Pant coming up, competition for the first choice wicket-keeper's slot for India in the 2019 World Cup is wide open.

Dhoni still remains the first choice and with the backing of the team management with him, he will most probably make the squad. But the ones who will be in contention to replace Dhoni for the wicket-keeper's slot if his dip in form continues are as follows.

1) Rishabh Pant

This 20 year old young sensation from New Delhi has been the talk of the town ever since he arrived in the Ranji Trophy scene. From smashing a 48 ball century to scoring a triple hundred in his debut season, he has always produced something special.

Because of his dashing batting style, he used to be a little inconsistent in the initial period of his career. But he has quickly matured and learned how to score quickly and consistently. By being the 2nd highest run scorer in IPL 2018 with 684 runs at an average on 52.61, he has proved that he is ready for the big stage.

He seems to be one of the frontrunners to replace Dhoni in near future. With his quick scoring and match winning ability he can be the perfect solution of spicing up the fragile and slow scoring Indian middle order.

However his lack of International experience and wicket keeping skills can go against him.

2) Dinesh Kartik

Dinesh Karthik will be the most experienced alternative

Dinesh Kartik is a veteran and has been in the Indian Cricket team for a long time. He has been in the shadow of Dhoni for most of his career. However it is in the recent past that he has hit, the form of his life and started winning matches for his tea, with the bat.

Although his keeping skills are not the best, his experience as a batsman in English conditions will go in his favour during selection. There is a high probability that he will be at least in the 15 member squad, because the team management has off late tried to use him as a pure batsman also, thus showing their confidence over his batting prowess.

3) Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson could be the surprise option that selectors could look at

Sanju Samson is also another youngster who has performed brilliantly with the bat in this year's IPL and the domestic season. His capability of hitting big sixes and scoring at a tremendous pace can change the complexion of a game in a whisker. He has been a regular in the India A sides off late.

His talent has never been in question, ever since he made his debut as a 17-year old. However this lack of international exposure and fitness related issues, make him not a front runner but only a dark horse.

4) K L Rahul

Rahul could solve two of India's problems- the no.4 slot and the wicketkeeper slot

A prolific run scorer at the top of the order, who can also don the gloves when the need be, KL Rahul can also be an option that the Indian team can opt for. He can do what Rahul Dravid did for India in the 2003 World Cup.

Choosing K L Rahul as a Keeper Batsman will address the middle order problem of India as they will be able to play an extra batsman like Rahane or Manish Pandey and thus increase the depth of the batting in the middle and lower middle order.

Moreover it will make K L Rahul's place in the playing eleven certain, inspite of the presence of two regular openers viz. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.