With the World Cup fewer than five months away, most teams have started to build a settled combination of players who could lead them to the much awaited Cricket World Cup. Winning the World Cup is considered the pinnacle of a cricketer’s career and come February, fourteen teams will be vying for the coveted trophy.
The forthcoming India vs West Indies series may not have much of a bearing on the World Cup, but certainly this is an opportunity for the selectors to try out a few new faces. In case of an injury to a senior player, it is always important to have a backup with international exposure. This makes the case stronger to give rest to the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin, who have constantly been playing for the past 6-8 months without much of a break. They are important to India’s World Cup chances and losing any one of them due to injury would spell disaster for India.
There are quite a few spots up for grabs and a strong performance here could only make their cases stronger for selection in the World Cup squad; there are quite a few vacancies to be targeted. There are holes in the middle order that need to be filled before the 50-over World Cup. Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Ambati Rayudu will hope to use this series to stake their respective cases. India look settled at the top of an innings, but the middle order is far from decided. The space between Virat Kohli at No.3 and MS Dhoni at No. 6 courts several contenders. Cheteshwar Pujara will try to convince the selectors of his fluency in limited-overs cricket. Ajinkya Rahane will want to mend his iffy strike-rate of 68.78 in ten innings’s batting between Nos. 3 and 7; Ambati Rayudu will hunt for the innings which makes people stand up and take notice; Kedhar Jadhav will look to replicate his form in the domestic circuit in the international scene. India will need a back up wicketkeeper-batsman and Sanju Samson seems to be a perfect fit. He needs to show why he is rated so highly by many people.
Suresh Raina can be thrusted with the responsibility of captaincy and a good series here will prove to be a major boost in his confidence. He has already captained India a few times before and has a pretty decent record. He has been part of a sound set-up for a good chunk of his ODI career and this series demands that he harvests the knowledge gained. Raina has documented a thirst to bat up the order and display his skills at constructing an Indian victory. This seems to be a great opportunity for him. It is a desire that strikes every batsman dubbed a T20 specialist. His promise persuaded the team management to groom him as a replacement for Yuvraj Singh last year, but the venture failed. He needs to show why he still is an important part of the Indian team.
Only Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami and Ravindra Jadeja seem to be assured of a place in the World Cup Squad as far as the bowling department is concerned. This series presents a perfect opportunity for the likes of Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Akshar Patel, Ishwar Pandey, etc. to stamp their authority and show why they are deserving of a place in the World Cup Squad. The make-up of the fast-bowling attack is still in its experimental stages, which would invite Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma and Varun Aaron to put their best foot forward. The Indian bowling department has never been intimidating so one can only hope that this batch of bowlers turns out to be world class and can display their potential at the highest level.
The West Indies team is also no walkover. They have some excellent players like Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Kemar Roach, etc. who can prove to be lethal on any given day. They too have struggled against quality spin bowling on more than one occasion and will be looking to overcome it this time. This series will be an interesting challenge for the Indian team and I really hope that the selectors select a youthful team because this will certainly prove to be fruitful for the Indian team in the long run.
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