Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has revealed the India squad he would like to see flying out to England for the upcoming World Cup.
The much-awaited World Cup is just a handful of months away and fans and pundits are busy predicting the teams. Several former players have already made predictions about the showpiece event and have also revealed their squads and the latest to join the bandwagon is Aakash Chopra.
The former Test opener sprung quite a few surprises as he included Rishabh Pant in the team but left out allrounder Ravindra Jadeja. Interestingly, Pant was not a part of the ODI team that recently played against Australia and New Zealand while Jadeja was.
Writing in his column for ESPNCricinfo, Chopra backed Ambati Rayudi for the No.4 spot saying that his gritty 90 in the fifth ODI against New Zealand on Sunday assured his ticket to England.
“Rayudu was the last one to enter the race and it needed only a handful of good knocks to put him at the top of the queue. Late starters have a significant advantage while the team is closing in on a world event, for there’s hardly any time left for experimentation. There were some question marks about Rayudu’s efficiency in trying circumstances but the last game of this tour has sealed his place,” he wrote.
Chopra also left out KL Rahul who has been struggling with the bat for quite some time now.
Meanwhile, England will take on South Africa in the opener on May 30, 2019, at The Oval in London. The tournament will last for 45 days with 48 matches to be played. India will start their campaign against the Proteas on June 5. The format for the 2019 edition will see 10 best teams in the world going head-to-head in a round-robin format. The tournament will culminate with the fifth final at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground on July 14.
Aakash Chopra’s India World Cup Squad:
Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal