The 2015 World Cup is barely a month away and the think-tanks of each and every team are busy in working out on the possible composition of the 15 men squad which will be announced in the coming days. The deadline set by the ICC to all the teams for announcing their 15 member squad is January 7, 2015. This might also be the 15 member squad to face Australia and England in the Tri-series in Australia, which begins on January 16. Here we take a look at India’s possible 15 men squad for the Tri-Series and ICC 2015 World Cup.
The squad will be led by MS Dhoni, who recently retired from Test matches to concentrate on the cricket extravaganza. Before going into the final 15, we look back at the 30 men probables for the 2015 World Cup which was announced on 4 December 2014.
Batsmen:
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Robin Uthappa, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Manish Pandey and Murali Vijay.
Wicket-Keepers:
MS Dhoni (captain), Wriddhiman Saha and Sanju Samson.
All-Rounders:
R Ashwin, Parvez Rasool, Karn Sharma, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Stuart Binny.
Bowlers:
Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd Shami, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohit Sharma, Ashok Dinda and Kuldeep Yadav.
The following players are certainties in India’s 15 men World Cup squad as they had had a good run of ODI matches in the past one year.
Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron.
The battle is for the remaining two spots for which there are five choices for the selectors. One is an extra batsman for which Ambati Rayudu leads the race against Robin Uthappa and Murali Vijay.
Vijay’s chances are boosted after his tremendous records in the Test series against the Aussies. But in the limited overs format, Vijay has neither shown any glimpses of proper approach nor consistency. Robin Uthappa, on the other hand has proved his mettle in Australia in the past and is in commanding form ahead of the tournament. His ability to keep wickets might turn the tables on his favour. On the other hand, Rayudu has not done anything wrong when he was given a chance in the team. So it is highly unlikely for the selectors to drop Rayudu from the squad.
All-Rounders Stuart Binny and Akshar Patel along with Robin Uthappa will battle it out for the remaining spot. Akshar has utilized his chances in the past and that strikes out Binny from the final 15 leaving Akshar and Uthappa for the remaining spot.
In spite of Stuart Binny’s ability to bowl medium pace which will come in handy in Australia and New Zealand (the venues for the World Cup), he is likely to leave way for Akshar. It all depends on the selectors’ decision whether to go in with an extra All-Rounder or a wicket-keeper, in which Akshar might slightly edge out Robin Uthappa for a place in the 15 member squad.
India’s Possible 15 member squad for the World Cup:
Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (Captain), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Varun Aaron.
Indian selectors are meeting on January 6 to annoounce the final squad.