Mumbai:
India have announced their 15-man squad for the upcoming ODI Cricket World Cup to be held in England.
Virat Kohli will lead the team while Rohit Sharma will be his deputy. Shikhar Dhawan has retained his spot as the opener while the surprise inclusion is that of middle-order batsman Vijay Shankar.
Incidentally, Dinesh Karthik has been preferred over Rishabh Pant as the back-up wicketkeeper to MS Dhoni. R Ashwin has also been left out, with Chahal, Kuldeep and Jadeja handed the responsibility in the spin bowling department.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami will be the pace bowlers at Kohli's disposal as India embark to bring back the trophy it won twice, back in 1983 and 2011.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar on Monday said he is surprised at young glovesman Rishabh Pant’s exclusion from India’s World Cup squad given his “exceptionally” good batting form and “great” improvement in wicket-keeping skills.
The 33-year-old Dinesh Karthik pipped Pant in the fight for the second wicketkeeper’s slot in India’s 15-strong squad for the World Cup, starting May 30 in England. Gavaskar said the move is surprising but backed Karthik as a better wicketkeeper.
“A bit surprised, looking at his (Pant’s) form. He was batting exceptionally well, not only in the IPL but before that also. He was showing great improvement his wicket-keeping as well. He brings that left-handed option in the top-six which is very handy against the bowlers,” Gavaskar said.
“The bowlers have to change their line (for a left-hander) and the captains have to do a lot of field arrangements.”
Pant has so far scored 245 runs in the ongoing IPL, compared to Karthik’s 111.
Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad, following the announcement of the squad made it clear that Karthik who has included in the squad as the second wicket-keeper, will only come to play if MS Dhoni is injured.
Karthik has the experience of 91 One-day Internationals (ODIs) matches under his belt while Pant has featured only five times in the format.
Prasad said experience was the prime reason why Karthik was picked up ahead of Pant for the marquee tournament.
"The second wicket-keeper comes into play only if Mahi (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) is injured. We went ahead with Karthik because of his experience in big matches," Prasad said.
Karthik was not a part of Team India's squad during their World Cup triumph in 2011. He did not feature in the 2015 World Cup as well.
The 33-year-old Karthik was last included in the World Cup squad in 2007.
India Squad: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
India have announced their 15-man squad for the upcoming ODI Cricket World Cup to be held in England.
Virat Kohli will lead the team while Rohit Sharma will be his deputy. Shikhar Dhawan has retained his spot as the opener while the surprise inclusion is that of middle-order batsman Vijay Shankar.
Incidentally, Dinesh Karthik has been preferred over Rishabh Pant as the back-up wicketkeeper to MS Dhoni. R Ashwin has also been left out, with Chahal, Kuldeep and Jadeja handed the responsibility in the spin bowling department.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami will be the pace bowlers at Kohli's disposal as India embark to bring back the trophy it won twice, back in 1983 and 2011.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar on Monday said he is surprised at young glovesman Rishabh Pant’s exclusion from India’s World Cup squad given his “exceptionally” good batting form and “great” improvement in wicket-keeping skills.
The 33-year-old Dinesh Karthik pipped Pant in the fight for the second wicketkeeper’s slot in India’s 15-strong squad for the World Cup, starting May 30 in England. Gavaskar said the move is surprising but backed Karthik as a better wicketkeeper.
“A bit surprised, looking at his (Pant’s) form. He was batting exceptionally well, not only in the IPL but before that also. He was showing great improvement his wicket-keeping as well. He brings that left-handed option in the top-six which is very handy against the bowlers,” Gavaskar said.
“The bowlers have to change their line (for a left-hander) and the captains have to do a lot of field arrangements.”
Pant has so far scored 245 runs in the ongoing IPL, compared to Karthik’s 111.
Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad, following the announcement of the squad made it clear that Karthik who has included in the squad as the second wicket-keeper, will only come to play if MS Dhoni is injured.
Karthik has the experience of 91 One-day Internationals (ODIs) matches under his belt while Pant has featured only five times in the format.
Prasad said experience was the prime reason why Karthik was picked up ahead of Pant for the marquee tournament.
"The second wicket-keeper comes into play only if Mahi (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) is injured. We went ahead with Karthik because of his experience in big matches," Prasad said.
Karthik was not a part of Team India's squad during their World Cup triumph in 2011. He did not feature in the 2015 World Cup as well.
The 33-year-old Karthik was last included in the World Cup squad in 2007.
India Squad: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
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