MSK Prasad confirms IPL performances won’t be considered while choosing Indian squad for World Cup

The upcoming ICC World Cup 2019, scheduled to start on May 30 in England and Wales, is considered to be one of the most interesting ones as the format of the tournament will revert back to the 1992 edition, where each team played one another once giving chance for teams who initially falter in the tournament.

One of the favourites to win the tournament is the Indian team which is ranked no.2 in the ICC ODI team rankings. Recently, it was announced that the BCCI selection committee will decide and declare the Indian team for the ICC World Cup 2019 on April 15. The possible contenders for the team are currently participating in the Indian Premier League 2019 and many thoughts that performances in IPL might impress the selectors enough to make decisions.

But MSK Prasad, the BCCI chief selector has made it clear that the performances in the Indian Premier League will not be considered while selecting the Indian team for the ICC World Cup in England and Wales. The selection committee will meet in Mumbai to pick the Indian squad and Virat Kohli, the captain of RCB will be in Mumbai and will attend the meeting next Monday.

“No, I don’t think we are looking at IPL showing,” MSK Prasad says

“No, I don’t think we are looking at IPL show. But would a strong performance in the IPL help the selectors fix any undecided slots? “No, not really. We are quite clear,” BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad was quoted as saying by India Today.

His sentiments were shared by Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma, who had earlier mentioned the same thing that performances in a T20 league should not be a base for selection for the marquee 50-over ICC event.

“I feel IPL should not be the criteria for team selection. You can’t select a team for the 50-over format from a 20-over event, it’s my personal opinion. IPL is a different ball game. Its franchise cricket and yes, form matters a lot. But in the last four years, we have played enough ODI matches, enough T20 cricket. That should be enough to understand these are the players that we want,” Sharma was quoted as saying.

Indian team is still on the lookout for a solution for a batsman at the no.4 spot in the batting lineup and despite trying a plethora of batsmen, the spot still remains available. Other questions are about the back-up wicketkeeper spot between Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik, does Ravindra Jadeja has a spot in the team and about the backup fast bowler in the squad. MSK Prasad is confident of picking a strong team but there are several concerns which still need to be addressed.

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