India World Cup team 2019: The Indian selection committee has announced as many as three standbys for 2019 World Cup.
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The Indian selection committee has announced as many as three standby cricketers for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The three players will be in addition to the already announced 15-member squad to represent India in the world event.
The three players include dropped batsman-duo of Ambati Rayudu and Rishabh Pant and uncapped fast bowler Navdeep Saini. Both Rayudu and Pant were in strong contention for the showpiece event.
Having said that, both of them missed after the final set of players were announced. While three-dimensional Vijay Shankar was picked ahead of Rayudu for the No. 4 spot, a more experienced Dinesh Karthik was preferred ahead of Pant as the reserve wicket-keeper.
Saini, who is yet to make his international debut, has been doing the ranks in domestic cricket in the last couple of years. Currently playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, Saini has picked four wickets in seven matches at an average of 53.50, an economy rate of 7.92 and a strike rate of 40.50. It is worth mentioning that he has bowled much better than his numbers suggest.
It was earlier announced that Saini would travel with three other fast bowlers in Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar and Avesh Khan as net bowlers for the Indian team during the World Cup.
Despite the final squad being announced, the selectors can still make changes to it till May 23.
The all-important tournament is slated to begin from May 30 at Kennington Oval, London. India will play their first match against South Africa on June 5. India have earlier won the World Cup twice – in 1981 and 2015.
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