So, previously I covered the tentative fast bowlers that i see going into the WC.
With the 3 ODIs gone, India showed a ruthless approach to their batting as well. These 3 ODIs more or less combined with the 3 WI ODIs have finalized the core of the Indian batting for the WC.
1) Openers - Rahane/Dhawan/Rohit Sharma
Rahane has carried his good form from SA tests to England and now the ODIs. With Rohit Sharma getting injured, it gave a perfect opportunity to try Rahane who is more natural a player against the new ball. Dhawan has cemented his place atleast till the Australian tour with over 270 runs in the 3 ODIs against SriLanka. Rohit Sharma hit a century against Sri Lanka during the warm up match. Moreover, Rohit Sharma is that kind of a talented player who you will atleast have as a backup in the squad, if not in the playing 11. Note that, he can be quite a destructive player once he is set. He might as well shift to the middle order if needed.
2) Middle Order - Rayudu/Kohli/Raina
Kohli is an obvious choice. No doubts over that. Raina with his left handed pinch hitting is an ideal player in the lower middle order for the death overs and a floater when acceleration is required. Not to forget his handy offspin and excellent fielding. Rayudu has come up to the big stage and more or less made his place in the side with the century against Sri Lanka. Moreover, he also acts as a back up wicketkeeper for Captain Dhoni.
Raina being selected for the test team to tour Australia is an assurance that hes been selected to get some batting practice in Australia.
3) WK and Dhoni - No doubts over that!
4) All Rounders and Spinners - Jadeja/Axar patel/Ashwin
Well well, no doubts that Ashwin is going into the WC15 as the best off spinner in the country and the fact that his batting can prove to be handy enough.
Axar Patel has risen up to the stage with his bowling which gives him slight edge over Sir Jadeja. However, his batting is yet to be tested in the longer run. But he has hit some lusty blows in the past. Also, the fact that he provides just the ideal variation in the bowling with his left arm spin
Sir Jadeja i feel is going to the WC15 irrespective of what he does over the next few months on the tour of Australia. His fielding itself may be an asset for the side, even as a substitute!
Other players would include Robin Uthapa who could acts as a WK batsman and someone who can play anywhere in the top 7 as a batsman. Another few players who seem to be getting a chance for the lower middle order could be Kedar Jadhav who has been selected for the last 2 ODIs against SL.
Do not forget, Murali Vijay and KL Rahul who are touring Australia as test openers may at anytime get selected for the WC in case of non-performance of any other openers above, purely on basis of recent experience that they may gain in Australia.
It is clear that Captain Dhoni does prefer bowlers who can bat a bit. It is also true that on Australian pitches, a spinner may not be able to do much, hence a slight extra edge in batting would help.
Stuart Binny could spring in a surprise due to his all-round capabilities given the fact that his medium pacers could be handy in Australia. Karn Sharma could get in a look due to his leggies and offcourse hes also one of those handy lower order bats.
I am afraid to say that there is a rare chance for Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra to make a come back to the ODI side! Ojha is missing in the test side again so that Karn Sharma can be tested and may get some practice before the WC.
So, watch out for these players over the next couple of months!
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