Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan,Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh have been omitted from the 30-member preliminary squad for the World Cup picked by India's selectors on Thursday. It has been almost a year since any of them made the ODI side.
It is understood that the selectors had decided to move on with the next generation and preferred current form over past performance, which worked against all the five players.
Though any of the omitted players from the provisional squad can be picked in the final 15-man side, chances of the five senior players breaking into the squad are miniscule. The deadline for submitting the condensed squad to the ICC is January 7.
Sehwag and Gambhir average in the 20s over the past two years in List A cricket and had limited success in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, with only a fifty each from six matches. Harbhajan led Punjab in the same tournament and managed seven wickets in six matches, while Yuvraj was patchy as well with 168 runs from five matches. Zaheer has not played competitive cricket since the IPL in May, and was ruled out of the Mumbai Ranji squad owing to fitness concerns.
Manoj Tiway makes the cut after highly productive showings in the Deodhar Trophy, Manish Pandey has been rewarded for consistent performances from the IPL last year to the Vijay Hazare Trophy in March and Kedar Jadhav, who made his debut in the Sri Lanka series, is also among 10 batsmen chosen.
Ashok Dinda's potential in the final overs might have persuaded the selectors to keep him in their plans. Left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav features among seven spinners led by R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Ishant Sharma, who was not part of the team in 2011, might have a chance to play his first World Cup.
There weren't many other surprises, although Cheteshwar Pujara was not seen as a viable limited-overs prospect again. India go to Australia and New Zealand with four wicketkeepers in MS Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha, Sanju Samson and Robin Uthappa, which meant Dinesh Karthik became surplus. Vinay Kumar, who had led Karnataka to three trophies last season and the Vijay Hazare title in March, could not find a place either.
Besides these five cricketers, the selectors have also overlooked most of India's World Cup-winning squad members. Dhoni, Kohli, Raina and Ashwin are the only survivors from the 2011 squad. Barring Sachin Tendulkar, who has retired, and Sreesanth, who has been banned for life for his alleged involvement in the IPL corruption scandal, all other members of the 2011 triumph were available for selection.
Indian's Team Probables
BATSMEN
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Manish Pandey, M Vijay
FAST BOWLERS
Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma, Ashok Dinda
SPINNERS
R Ashwin, Parvez Rasool, Karn Sharma, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav
WICKETKEEPERS
MS Dhoni, Robin Uthappa, Sanju Samson, Wriddhiman Saha
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