IPL form shouldn’t influence selection of World Cup squad, cautions Mohinder Amarnath

It’s the end of January and the much-awaited World Cup is now less than four months away. India though had a shocking loss on Thursday to New Zealand in the fourth ODI but they have been doing well overall and won a lot of series overseas in the last one year, including the ongoing one.

India’s core team for the mega tournament is almost settled and the final picks will depend on the players’ latest form and fitness. Former India all-rounder Mohinder Amarnath, however, has cautioned over the selection of the final Indian squad for the World Cup starting May 30.

The WC will be preceded by the Indian Premier League (IPL) in March-May and Amarnath warned against picking players for the squad on the basis of their forms in the IPL. India are not left with too many international games now in the run-up to the tournament and veterans who otherwise would have little chance of making it to the World Cup squad like Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina or Ajinkya Rahane will eye to make a last-ditch effort in the T20 tournament to bag a World Cup berth.

The 68-year-old former all-rounder, who was among Kapil’s Devils who won the tournament in 1983, strongly believes only performance in international games should be considered a yardstick to judge players.

“Yes, the IPL will be played in between but players’ form in this tournament should not be taken into consideration when the team is being selected for the Cup. It should be on the basis of what they have achieved in the international arena,” Amarnath, who played 85 ODIs and 69 Tests, wrote in his column for Times of India.

Amarnath impressed with India’s pre-World Cup run

Hailing the consistent performance that Virat Kohli’s men have come up with, Amarnath felt India’s preparations for the World Cup are fantastic and that the selectors will have a challenging task in picking the final squad for the event. India recently beat Australia 2-1 in their den and thumped New Zealand in the first three games of a five-match series to win the second ODI series in January.

“Overall, this is fantastic preparation for the upcoming World Cup. India have tried out quite a few players and they’ve all done well. So the selectors are going to have a bit of a headache while choosing the final squad for England. However, they must remember that after the Australian series in India, there will be a gap of a couple of months before the World Cup begins,” Amarnath, who won the man of the match awards both in the semi-final and final of the 1983 edition, said.

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