Should IPL 2019 performances be considered for World Cup squad selection?

As the 2019 ICC World Cup is drawing closer, Indian selectors and the team management are trying to fit in all the missing pieces. As of now, the top order is a settled one, and possibly its biggest strength. In KL Rahul, they seem to have got a reserve batsman of the highest quality who can fit into the top order in case there is some niggle to any of the top three.

Bhuvneswar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have confirmed their positions as the two key opening bowlers. The search for the supporting act in the pace department is truly on and they will most probably choose from Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, and Ishant Sharma.

In the spin bowling department, they seem to have zeroed in on the three spinners – Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Ravindra Jadeja. They have made up their mind that MS Dhoni will be the first choice keeper and Rishabh Pant will be the stand-in keeper. In Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav, they have got two good all-rounders.

The only area of concern seems to be the middle order and even the pieces seem to be falling in place there too, with Ambati Rayudu almost cementing the number 4 spot. However, for the number 5 position, there seems to be a lot of contenders, including Manish Pandey and Rishabh Pant. As of now, Shreyas Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane seem to have slipped down in the list of contenders for the middle-order spot.

After the West Indies series, India will play ODIs with Australia and New Zealand. The selectors and team management will surely use those opportunities to fine-tune the preparation for the world cup and settling down on their preferred squad.

Kohli would love to have players in top form during the World Cup.

But in cricket, like any other sport, the most important barometer of a player’s utility is his current form. Before the World Cup, almost all the Indian players including the contenders for various spots in the World cup squad will be in action in the high-voltage Indian Premier League.

If the selectors decide to select their squad before the IPL or select the squad without taking into account the performances of players in the IPL, then they will ignore the important criterion of a player’s current form. It’s true that the standard of competition in IPL will not be as high as that in the World Cup. But then, don’t players who perform well in domestic tournaments such as the Ranji Trophy get selected in the national squad too?

The importance of ‘current form’ cannot be underestimated. And for Indian players, IPL will be the barometer of their ‘current form’. There are more than two months of gap between India’s last international assignment and the World Cup. That is a long enough period for someone to lose form or gain it.

One is not suggesting that most of the squad has to be selected on the basis of IPL performance. Before IPL, based on the performances in the international matches, most of the quad should be selected anyway. But they must leave out at least a couple of places in the larger squad of sixteen or seventeen members to fit in the top performers from the IPL.

There is always a chance that some players may get into irresistible form in the IPL and it will be a folly to not use that to one’s advantage. That way, the scheduling of IPL just before the World Cup could turn out to be to India’s advantage, and not just a problem area in terms of possible player fatigue and injury.