JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
ICC World Cup 2019: India's bench strength for the tournament
As this World Cup is going to be a long affair with each team playing nine group stage matches, it is really important to have a strong bench apart from the active 11. Does Virat Kohli-led side own the required bench strength or not? Let's take a look.
Team India has landed in England with an aim of triumphing the mega trophy for the third time. From power-packed batting line-up to variety-enriched bowling attack, the Indian squad looks quite balanced on paper. As this World Cup is going to be a long affair with each team playing nine group stage matches, it is really important to have a strong bench apart from the active 11. Does Virat Kohli-led side own the required bench strength or not? Let's take a look.
Indian cricket team's openers, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, are a strong part of India's batting line-up. If the duo gets going, it becomes really tough for opposition to control things. However, exceeded workload in this big tournament can get them in trouble. Though luckily, the presence of KL Rahul in the squad suggests that they can take some days off in between.
Pertinently, at number 4, KL Rahul and Vijay Shankar can take turns. Also, with the inclusion of Dinesh Karthik, India gets extra wicket-keeping as well as a batting option. Again indicating the richness of bench strength of the Men in Blue. Meanwhile, the most tough task would be how Kohli takes care of the blokes with the ball. There are just three mainstream fast-bowlers in the squad, who are most likely to play each game. However, having three spinners in the squad can prove to be helpful, given India gets a turning track somewhere in between. Overall, it seems India might require an extra seamer as the tournament gets going.
Nonetheless, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar or Navdeep Saina, who are also travelling with the team as net bowlers, can make it through.
India's Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Kl Rahul, MS
Dhoni (WK), Kedhar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami,
Jaspirt Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Bench: Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja.
