The veteran Indian all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja can be termed as one of those unluckiest cricketers in the Indian National Cricket Team. He is an exceptional talent with the bat, ball and in fielding, still, he hasn’t been able to make the impact across formats which was expected. Meanwhile, former head coach Anil Kumble believes Jadeja is an asset.
Currently, a lot of players are in contention for catching a flight to England for ICC World Cup 2019. Each and every player is performing at their best to press their case harder for the grand event. The latest in that category is Vijay Shankar, who is pushing for a place in the side.
Talkin to CricketNext recently, Kumble said that it would be either between Vijay Shankar or Jadeja for the mega event. He reckons both will get their chances in the upcoming ODI series against Australia in order to get selected for the grand event. He feels that most of the place has been filled in the squad and only a couple of places are up for grabs. He even considers KL Rahul for that slot.
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Kumble explained, ”I think one of them will certainly do that, so I am hoping both of them should get an opportunity against Australia. Then I think Shami picks himself, he has done really well, so that’s the third seamer plus of course Hardik. Then will you go with a Khaleel, a left arm option. I think a good option in England because if the conditions are good then he could be your third seamer but now that Shami is really doing well, would you want to have Khaleel? Not sure. You’d want an opener because it’s only Rohit & Shikhar, so if you don’t take a KL Rahul or a Shubhman Gill, who’s batted at 3 but he’s also an opening option.”
Meanwhile, former Indian skipper expressed that a lot of cricketers are in the mix for the World Cup. He added that the players like Pant and Mayank are pushing for a place. Despite all the stuff, he added that the successful campaign doesn’t often require the services of 14th and 15th man in the squad.
Kumble elaborated, ”You have Mayank Agarwal, so I think these three names you know will still be in the mix, Rishabh is in the mix. So just that two spots I think you would want to try all of these players in leading up to the World Cup. If I have to pick today, like you said, yeah you go with experience, you’d probably pick Jadeja as your 14 & then depending on whether you want a seamer or opener you’d pick a Rahul. So that would be your 15 but otherwise, I think generally in a World Cup, a winning World Cup, you don’t use the 14 & 15.”
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Well, as Kumble said, BCCI selectors have got a lot of headaches ahead of the ICC World Cup 2019. With all the players performing brilliantly, the selection of the squad is going to be a massive headache.
