With an eye on World Cup selection, Ajit Agarkar to meet Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid
The new Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar will be having his first tete-a-tete with captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid in the West Indies. Agarkar will be the touring selector during the white-ball leg of the tour.
Ajit Agarkar will be the touring selector during the white-ball leg of the West Indies tour.(Instagram)
With the ODI World Cup fast approaching, Agarkar and Dravid are expected to narrow down on a probable squad and standbys from the targeted group, during the ODI series that begins on July 27. Agarkar was yet to take up the job when the Indian ODI team for West Indies was picked, but he may be left with limited room for manoeuvre.
Although India will be playing 5-6 ODIs in the Asia Cup and three home ODIs against Australia, the squads in those matches may mirror the team that will go on the park in the marquee event. Teams have to be named a month before the World Cup, which gets underway on October 5.
The selectors wait to see how pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, middle-order aspirants Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul shape up once they resume competitive cricket after long injury layoffs. While Bumrah is known to be targeting a return in the three T2OIs against Ireland in August, his return-from-injury protocols are being closely monitored.
If any of the injured trio are ruled out of the World Cup, India may have to make do with back-ups. Mohammed Shami who is resting from the entire tour of West Indies and is a certainty for the big event, will have to step up if Bumrah doesn’t return to complete fitness. Suryakumar Yadav, who is yet to realize his potential in ODIs is known to be a back-up for Iyer. Sanju Samson who makes a return to the ODI set-up in West Indies, has been drafted in as a standby for Rahul. While Bumrah is understandably being seen as irreplaceable, Yadav and Samson can boost their chances by doing well in the Caribbean.
In the pace department, Mohammed Siraj is a shoo-in for the World Cup. Umran Malik with his express pace, Jaydev Unadkat with his left-armers angle and Mukesh Kumar as a fast-improving pace asset will be closely watched in the West Indies.
“Yashasvi Jaiswal and Arshdeep Singh being named for the Asian games (dates overlap with the World Cup) is a clear indicator that they are not being considered for the ODI World Cup,” a BCCI official said.
Ishan Kishan, as a left-hander at the top of the order and for his wicket-keeping ability has his nose in front. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is in the ODI squad against West Indies, will be busy leading India in the Asian games.
Rohit Sharma future
It remains to be seen if Agarkar initiates a talk with Rohit Sharma about his T20I future and all-format workload. Hardik Pandya has been leading India in T20Is following last year’s T20 World Cup, while senior pros like Rohit and Virat Kohli have focused on Test and ODI cricket.
The T20I squads picked so far by the Agarkar-led committee have mostly rewarded performers from this year’s IPL.
