Former India paceman RP Singh on Saturday (March 2) has named his 15-member 2019 World Cup squad for the Team India. Interestingly, the seamer has introduced in-experienced young fast bowler Siddarth Kaul in the coveted line-up.
Apart from the fast-bowling trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, ex-seamer Rudra Pratap Singh has backed Kaul as the back-up bowler. He feels Siddarth has a fizz to feature in the squad for the upcoming ODI showpiece. The ICC’s mega event will run between May 30 and July 14 in the United Kingdom (UK).
It’s important to point out that Kaul hasn’t played enough One-day International fixtures on the international level. Since June 2018, the 28-year-old Hyderabad bowler Kaul has featured in three ODIs and as many Twenty20 International.
In the T20I fold, he went on to bag four scalps but has gone done wicketless in the day-long format. He has sent down 162 deliveries to concede 179 runs at an economy of 6.62.
Well, Siddarth has a smooth rune, he further clocks the ball at 130 kph regularly. Of late, he has played a crucial role with the ball, for the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
The 33-year-old RP Singh, who has announced retirement from international cricket in September 2018, also picked KL Rahul as the third opener apart from the settled line-up in the form of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.
Rahul has regained the form following the dismal show with the bat.
With Ambati Rayudu as an option at the top, RP Singh also spoke about the decent outing of Kedar Jadhav. He has also backed the wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, but there has to be a toss-up. The duo has done well to earn accolades. Also, it subsequently could pave the way for them to break into the multi-national squad for the Men in Blue.
In conclusion, with the wrist-spinners; Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal enjoying their time, Ravindra Jadeja is another option to roll over his arm.
India will kick off their 2019 World Cup campaign against South Africa on June 5 in Southampton.
Here is a 15-man squad of RP Singh for the 2019 World Cup:
Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav/Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Siddarth Kaul.