Dinesh Kartik got a berth in the Indian World CUP team, while Rishab Pant was left out. The squad for the next month World Cup, which was announced by the Chairman of Selection Committee, MSK Prasad had also rtain Viran Kohli and Rohit Sharma as captain and Vice-Captain.
Announced the team at a press conference, Prasad said the selectors opted for Karthik due to his superior wicket-keeping skills. Although, he may not be replaced unless the veteran MS Dhoni is get injured.
Souces said that Virat Kohli attended the selection committee meeting at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai ahead of the announcement on Monday.
Devang Gandhi, Jatin Paranjpe, Gagan Khoda and Sharandeep Singh are the other members of the selection committee.
It’s irony of sot as none of the five selectors had ever been part of a World Cup squad during their playing careers.
The World Cup scheduled to be played in England from May 30 to July 14.
In the opener, India plays against South Africa at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on June 5.
Interestingly, India and Pakistan are set to clash at Old Trafford in Manchester on June 16.
It may be recalled, following the Pulwama attack on February 14, there were demands that India boycott the game against Pakistan. But, the government chose to remain any decision in this regard,
The group stage will have a round-robin format, where all ten teams play each other once, in a single group. The top four teams will progress to the semifinals.
Another note worthy feature of this World cup is that all the Test paying nations are going to be present as Zimbabwe and Ireland failed to qualify for the tournament. It will also be the first World Cup to feature no Associate members.
Indian squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Kedar Jadhav, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja