Is this Rahul Dravid’s team? Considering the presence of several powerful left-handed batsmen in the big teams, should an off-spinner have been included in the squad? Was Yuzvendra Chahal, who has delivered some outstanding performances in the last two years after Kuldeep Yadav, left out because he cannot bat? Is it the right move to select Tilak Varma in Indian team, who actually didn’t had the experience of playing a single ODI match?” These are some questions that have been bothering the Indian team management and selectors for the past few days. Although Ajit Agarkar is the Chief Selector, it is quite evident that Rahul Dravid’s influence is significant in this team. KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer have made their way back into the team, but KL Rahul is currently having an injury in his knees. With this in mind, Sanju Samson has been included in the team as a backup option. In fact, Rahul Dravid wants to play KL Rahul as a wicket-keeper batsman in the World Cup under any circumstances. The example of the 2003 World Cup is in front of everyone when the then captain Sourav Ganguly included Dravid as a wicket-keeper batsman in the team, which gave the captain an extra option, and the Indian team reached the final. KL Rahul can also open and play at number four. Now, in this place, they want to play him, but at the same time, Rohit Sharma has made it clear that there will be flexibility in positions four and five. There will be very few changes in the rest of the positions one to seven. It is evident that Rohit wants to play Virat at number three, while in recent days, from Ravi Shastri to Sandeep Patil and others, many players have advocated for playing Virat at number four. In Australian team, there are left-handed batsmen like David Warner, Travis Head, and Alex Carey. In England, there are Ben Stokes, David Malan, Moeen Ali, and Sam Curran. In Pakistan, there are Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Faheem Ashraf, and Mohammad Nawaz. In New Zealand’s team, there are left-handed batsmen such as Henry Nicholls, Tom Latham, Devon Conway, and Mark Chapman. These left-handed batsmen can pose a challenge to a skilled off-spinner. India has spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar who are capable batsmen as well. The World Cup is going to be held in India, and Ashwin has already proven himself as a significant match-winner in India. We have paid the price for not including him in the team in the final of the World Test Championship. Furthermore, it’s the era of wrist spinners these days. Why have we kept Yuzvendra Chahal limited to bilateral series only? For example, if Kuldeep Yadav gets injured, will we have to rely solely on Jadeja and Axar Patel? There needs to be foresight in this matter. Among the batsmen, Suryakumar Yadav needs to adapt his game to suit ODIs. He can certainly hit big shots, but he lags behind in strike rotation. The same goes for Sanju Samson. When Team India has KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan, there was no apparent reason to select Sanju Samson as a backup option. Chahal could have been a better choice in his place.” Jasprit Bumrah has returned to ODI cricket after nearly a year. It would be better to play established bowlers like Krishna or Siraj against teams like Nepal and Afghanistan. Bumrah is a trump card for the team India. We should take precautions to ensure that a situation like the one year before the previous T20 World Cup does not arise. You may remember that he was played in the series against Australia back then, where he got injured. If Indian batsmen are fit, the team is quite strong at the moment. Tilak Varma has shown promise, but in major events, he should be kept as a backup option. The performance of three left-arm spinners and three fast bowlers, including two fast bowling all-rounders, will depend on many factors, and they should provide a reasonable response to Yuvraj Singh’s prediction, in which he foresaw India not making it to the semi-finals this time.”
