India World Cup squad declared: Rayudu, Pant dropped; Rahul, Jadeja in

The selection committee led by MK Prasad is known for making surprising decisions but with a lot of discussions already  going on about the World Cup squad, it seemed like everyone knew atleast the core players that would represent India in England. But here we are once again with the national selectors keeping up with their reputation of spurring surprises.

Ambati Rayudu who was almost ‘locked down’ as the answer for India’s number four spot, the one that has troubled the team the most in the recent years, is shockingly left out while Rishabh Pant, who made giant strides in recent times is dropped as well. Meanwhile, the selectors have not chosen a fourth seamer and have gone with Ravindra Jadeja who provides something with the ball, bat and his fielding skills.

#TeamIndia for @ICC #CWC19 ??#MenInBlue ? pic.twitter.com/rsz44vHpge

— BCCI (@BCCI) April 15, 2019

Rahul in , Rayudu out

Ambati Rayudu made to India’s national team riding on a sensational IPL 2018 season. Since then he made strong claims for the number four position by making useful contributions. A hundred against Windies and a gritty knock of 90 against New Zealand made Virat Kohli pronounce that they have found their man for number four slot.

Ambati Rayudu must be shattered though. His place was deemed certain and he had even quit 4 day cricket to focus on this. But form is such a cruel mistress. The harder he tried the more he seemed to struggle. My heart goes out to him.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 15, 2019

But a mediocre series against Australia found Rayudu on the fences and now selectors have preferred Rahul over him who has shown signs of regaining his mojo with a strong show in the ongoing IPL.

Shankar and Karthik get a place as well 

Vijay Shankar impressed everyone in his recent games and Prasad too had admitted that he has added ‘a new dimension’ to their discussions’. The selectors have shown faith in him and have offered him a place in India team along with Dinesh Karthik who is India’s back-up wicket-keeper.

In the bowling department, Jadeja offers a cushion to the spin duo of Kuldeep and Chahal while India have shown trust on the pace trio of Bumrah, Bhuvi and Shami.

MSK Prasad also felt that Karthik is the best man to handle pressure.

"Karthik will only play in case of an injury to Mahi. In a crunch game, he is the best man to handle the pressure."

— The Field (@thefield_in) April 15, 2019

India’s squad for ICC 2019 World Cup

Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami.