ICC World Cup 2019: Changes to squad possible till May 23, says Harsha Bhogle

Team India, on Monday, became the third team after New Zealand and Australia to announce their 15-man World Cup squad. The MSK Prasad-led selection panel did not spring too many surprises barring a few. One of them was the surprising omission of Rishabh Pant. The young wicketkeeper-batsman, who is being groomed as MS Dhoni’s replacement, could not make it to the squad along with Ambati Rayudu.

On the other hand, the likes of KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar and Ravindra Jadeja made it to the final list.
While most of the slots in the team were very much confirmed, there were still question marks around the No. 4 position in the batting order. Team India has tried quite a number of players at that spot since 2017 but without much success. The latest to be tried out was Ambati Rayudu but he paid the price for his poor performance in 2019.

MSK Prasad also said Vijay Shankar, as well as Kedar Jadhav, could be a contender too to bat at that position. “We are looking at him (Vijay Shankar) at No. 4 and with Dinesh Karthik and Kedar Jadhav in, we have plenty of options at that No. 4 slot right now,” said Prasad.

In another surprising decision, the selectors did not name the fourth pacer in the squad either. While Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were certain to lead the pace attack, there were speculations that another frontline pacer would find a place in the squad. Prasad, however, said that either Khaleel Ahmed or Navdeep Saini could be sent to England if the situation arises.

Changes still possible:

While the squad is already announced, India can still make changes to it. Ace commentator Harsha Bhogle confirmed the news, tweeting that the teams can make changes to their squads till May 23.

“Just remember that the teams being announced for the World Cup are provisional selections and can be changed till May 23rd without ICC permission,” wrote Bhogle.

Just remember that the teams being announced for the World Cup are provisional selections and can be changed till May 23rd without ICC permission.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 15, 2019

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