World Cup 2019: India's expected 30-man preliminary squad

A 50-overs World Cup hurries the heart and feeds the cricketing soul like no other competition in the gentleman’s game. One might find it possible to quantify the amount of excitement ahead of this tournament in other countries, but in India, the brouhaha and enthusiasm are a notch ahead when compared to the rest. The Men in Blue managed to win the elite competition twice in 1983 and 2011 and lost one final to Australia in 2003. Indians managed to finish in the top four on six occasions, second only to the Kangaroos. In pursuit of a third triumph, Virat Kohli & Co. will travel to England in June 2019 and the selectors are already busy shortlisting the squad members. All the teams are expected to submit their final 15-man squad list by the end of March 2019 or the first week of April. As it happens always, a 30-member probable list will be announced which will give an insight into how the main squad might shape. This list is an indication given by the selectors to those cricketers who are on the peripheral edge of their plans, commanding them to raise their standards by the time the main squad is announced. Here’s the predicted 30-man Indian squad for World Cup 2019: Openers – Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. (Photo Source: ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images) Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma will be a part of the 15-man squad unless an injury sabotages their endeavours. There will be a fight for the other remaining spot between two or three players. The prime candidate as it stands to get the final nod from selectors is KL Rahul as he has been with the team for over four years now. Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal don’t stand a chance in the current setup, but they will mostly appear in the probables list. Shaw has shown a lot of promise in recent times and it will not come in as a surprise if he makes his ODI debut in 2019. But for Mayank, the most he can achieve at this point in time is a spot in the probables list. Middle order (1) – Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter) Apart from skipper Virat Kohli, no other name is a hundred per cent starter, which is a trouble for the team management. India have issues with the number four position and looking at the way Ambati Rayudu played against the Windies, he might’ve hit good form exactly at the right time. His selection in the side seems more or less a confirmed news for the World Cup. Ajinkya Rahane, India number four in the previous World Cup, has lost touch big time and is failing to cope with the expected standards of the side. Manish Pandey and Suresh Raina have made very few appearances and they need to buck up big time to get back into consideration. As it stands, Kohli and Rayudu look sure shots with Rahane having a greater chance amongst others. Middle order (2) – Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant. (Photo Source: Twitter) Out of this list, three of the four might end up going to England. MS Dhoni still is a key member of the contingent and will feature in the main squad given he doesn’t retire prior to that. Dinesh Karthik can fancy his chances ahead of Rishabh Pant sheerly because of the experience he brings and the team needs such players in tournaments like these. Kedar Jadhav has had too many injury concerns in recent times, but he has been an exceptional player for the side is something that cannot be disregard. So if he can keep up with his injuries, Jadhav will definitely be in the final squad. Shreyas Iyer’s is a bit like Mayank Agarwal’s, the chances of travelling to England look very grim but with injury prone players like Jadhav in the team, he can hope for something better. All-rounders – Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, K Gowtham Hardik Pandya. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) Hardik Pandya is the only all-rounder who has a confirmed spot in the World Cup line-up. Apart from him, Ravindra Jadeja’s recent surge in form keeps him right up in the radar. Axar Patel, who surprisingly made it to the World Cup squad last time, might not replicate anything like that and he only has himself to blame. Krishnappa Gowtham and Vijay Shankar have been doing a tremendous job for their respective domestic sides as well as India A in List A cricket. They certainly have caught the attention of selectors, but that doesn’t seem good enough at this point to get the approval they want. Apart from Pandya and Jadeja, the rest are very much out of contention to make it into the final 15. Bowlers (1) – Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed The trickiest of pots for Kohli, Shastri and the selectors will be the bowlers’ pot. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal formed a fantastic wrist-spinning duo, but Ravindra Jadeja‘s resurgence has kept Chahal out of action. A fact that the Saurashtra man can also bat gives him the extra edge over Chahal. Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav have grown from strength to strength in the last two years. They seem like the most accomplished cricketers in the Indian side right now and will have to play a crucial role if India dreams of winning the cup for the third time. Khaleel Ahmed is showing a lot of promise and a fact that he is a left-arm seamer keeps him very much in the fray. He adds variety to the attack and might as well manage to make a cut into the final 15. Bowlers (2) – Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Deepak Chahar, Siddarth Kaul Mohammed Shami. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images) Bhuvneshwar Kumar is one of the best cricketers in the world right now and he needs to get out of his rough patch as soon as possible. He can bowl with the new ball, at the death and can also bat when needed. Mohammed Shami, who picked up the most wickets for India in the previous World Cup, finds his selection in a slightly precarious position. Ravichandran Ashwin has not played an ODI since June 2017, which is a clear indication that he is no longer in the limited-overs plans. But the selectors might reward him a place in the probables list and one can never disregard how far he can go. Deepak Chahar and Siddarth Kaul made their debuts recently, which is the main reason why they will appear in the probables list. Only an injury to one of the mainstream quick bowlers can win them a prize they want. Get the latest Cricket News and updates from World Cup 2019, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.

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World Cup 2019: India's expected 30-man preliminary squad

All the teams are expected to submit their final 15-man squad list by the end of March 2019 or the first week of April.

All-rounders – Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, K Gowtham

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