No KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja in Anil Kumbleās World Cup squad
BCCI
Anil Kumble has named his World Cup squad in which KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja havenāt found a place and MS Dhoni has been kept at the crucial no. 4 position. The former Test captain went with Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, and Ambati Rayudu and opted for Khaleel Ahmed as the fourth pacer.
Former India coach Kumble did spring a few surprises as he named his squad for the showpiece event in England and Wales which will begin on May 30. The notable exclusions are batsman KL Rahul, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik.Ā
There were no doubts with respect to the top-three being Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. However, he has preferred MS Dhoni for the number four spot over others, followed by Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya at number five and six respectively. The next in the lineup is fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who made a case for himself as an all-rounder with a fighting knock of 46 against Australia in the fifth ODI in Delhi.
With respect to the spinners, the former leggie has gone with tried and tested duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.Ā
Finally, among the fast bowlers, apart from Kumar, he went ahead with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami. However, Khaleel Ahmed, who was not a part of the Australia ODIs at home, has found a place in the squad as per Kumble as the fourth seamer in place of Umesh Yadav.
The other three who find a spot in Kumbleās 15-men squad are young wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant Ambati Rayudu and Vijay Shankar. However, KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik were the other notable exclusions.
āIāll go with the obvious 11, which I believe selects itself. Which is Rohit, Shikhar, Virat, MS, Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvi, Chahal, Kuldeep, Bumrah, Shami. So this will be our 11. Not necessarily the playing 11 but then you know they will definitely be the 11 which will be a part of the 15. The 12, 13, 14, 15 is a challenge; I believe that itāll either be Vijay Shankar or Jadeja, one of them and from what youāve seen of Vijay Shankar as a batsman. I think he gets the nod. From a bowling perspective, he still doesnāt have the opportunity or I donāt think you can trust him to bowl your 10 overs. So thatās a bit of a challenge so I would go with Vijay Shankar,ā Kumble was quoted as saying by CricketNext.
India will play their first warm-up match against New Zealand on May 25, and their first fixture is scheduled against the Proteas on June 6.
Anil Kumbleās India squad for World Cup:
Virat Kohli (Captain), MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant and Vijay Shankar.
