And the man of the tournament is… not selected in the next World Cup’s squad.
Last week, BCCI announced the 15-man team that would be representing India at ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand.
The squad of 15 is:
Wicketkeeper Batsmen
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain)
Ambati Rayadu
Batsmen
Virat Kohli (vice-captain)
Shikhar Dhawan
Ajinkya Rahane
Suresh Raina
Rohit Sharma
All-rounders
Stuart Binny
Ravindra Jadeja
Axar Patel
Bowlers
Ravichandran Ashwin
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Mohammed Shami
Ishant Sharma
Umesh Yadav
The big question marks:
- No big names
Although the Men in Blue will be referred to as defending champions, only four of the fifteen in the current squad were a part of the world cup winning team back in 2011. These four are Dhoni, Kohli, Ashwin and Raina. The era of the Tendulkars, Sehwags, Gambirs, Yuvrajs, Zaheers and Harbhajans is sadly over. This is a sad truth, cricket fans will find hard to come to terms with.
The average age of the team is 26.8 years; the oldest player a little over 33 and the youngest a little under 21.
- Yuvraj Singh
He was the man of the tournament in the last world cup scoring 362 runs and taking 15 wickets. He saw India through difficult situations time and again, making important breakthroughs when they were most needed and staying on the crease till the very end.
Although he was not in the 30 probables declared by the selectors, in the ongoing Ranji season, he is among the highest scorers, having already cracked three centuries and one half century. More importantly he is a match-winner and his experience will be needed on pitches down under. He has battled cancer and this sort of tough mentality can handle the most demanding of situations.
The possible justification?
Back in 2007, BCCI pulled a similar move, sending a young and inexperienced Indian side for the Twenty 20 World Cup in South Africa.
Even in 1983, there were no big names, but everyone chipped in; current team selector Roger Binny, the partnership breaker Madan Lal, Mohinder Amaranth (with his lucky charm red handkerchief sticking out of his pocket) the dashing Srikkanth, and of course Kapil Paaji.
Both these times, the team brought the cup back home; something no one could have imagined.
So all said and done, let’s just back the Indian team and hope for something special! We never know who can take us all by surprise; such is the excitement attached with new players- anyone can evolve as a potential match-winner!
