On Wednesday, the young Indian gloveman Rishabh Pant and veteran cricketer Ambati Rayudu have been named among the standbys for India’s World Cup squad. It has given them some rays of hope of making into the World Cup squad in case an injury setback hits the side.

Apart from them, the pacer, Navdeep Saini also found a place in the list of three back-ups for the mega-event commencing on May 30. Pant and Rayudu’s exclusion from the squad of 15 had left quite a few fans and pundits in a shock. While Sunil Gavaskar called Pant’s omission surprising. The exclusion of Rayudu was questioned by Gautam Gambhir as well.

With the ICC doing away with the practice of letting countries announce a probables’ list before the final squad. The BCCI also has the option of including anyone apart from these three but the chances of that happening to, seem to be lesser than expected. 

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Describing the same to PTI, a senior BCCI official said, “Just like the ICC Champions Trophy, we have three standbys. Rishabh Pant and Ambati Rayudu are the first and second standbys while Saini is the bowler in the list. So if anyone gets injured, as per requirement, one of the three will be going.”

Rayudu took to Twitter to take a dig at his omission from the squad of 15 on Tuesday. He tweeted, “Just Ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup”.

Just Ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup 😉😋..

— Ambati Rayudu (@RayuduAmbati) April 16, 2019

This was after the chairman of selectors MSK Prasad justified preferring Vijay Shankar over Rayudu, citing the former’s “three-dimensional qualities”.

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While Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, and Deepak Chahar will be traveling with as net bowlers, they can also be drafted in the squad if the need arises. The official said, “Khaleel, Avesh, and Deepak have not designated standbys. In the case of bowlers, that possibility is there but when it comes purely to batsmen, it will be either Rishabh or Rayudu.”

In other developments, there will be no Yo-Yo Test for the World Cup going players as the IPL is going to conclude on May 12, just a few days before the Indian team will be heading towards England where there will be commencing their campaign on June 5 against South Africa in Southampton.

Describing the same, the official explained, “The players are already in the middle of a grueling T20 season. Once the IPL ends, they will need recovery time. It’s not like that there is a gap between two series and you are having a test. If you are tired, the results may vary.”