5 Indian players who are picked in the World Cup squad for first time

4. KL Rahul

He might consider himself lucky to be selected in the squad ahead of batsmen like Ambati Rayudu and Rishabh Pant who have played much more ODI cricket than him in the recent past. But he was picked as the back-up opener for Rohit and Dhawan. KL will thus board the flight to England to feature in his first World Cup this summer. The stylish batsman likes to play orthodox shots and is pleasing to the eyes when in form.

He has just played 14 ODI matches and has scored 343 runs with an average of 34.30 and has one century to his name in the ODI format. Though he is designated for the opening slot, the chairman of selectors did keep the No. 4 option open based on the team management’s requirements.

Rahul will want to keep all the controversies aside and focus on his game. He knows it is his cricket that will be the talking point when he gets amongst the runs.

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