India played well to reach the semi-finals of the just-concluded World Cup. But going by the pre-tournament billing, Virat Kohlis boys fell short of expectations and as a result, quite a few players have come under the scanner and the tour of West Indies gives the selectors a chance to try out some fresh faces.
IANS takes a look at the players who in all likelihood would not get another chance to represent the Men in Blue any time soon:
Dinesh Karthik
His selection raised quite a few eyebrows as many felt young wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant deserved a place in the 15-men contingent. Pant, was, however, called up during the tournament as replacement to injured Shikhar Dhawan while 34-year old Karthik, who has spent most of career in the shadow of M.S. Dhoni, warmed the benches for most of the group matches.
In the two innings Karthik played, he returned with scores of 8 and 6. In the semi-final against New Zealand, Karthik had a golden opportunity to play the innings of his life but he was found wanting against the moving ball.
Kedar Jadhav
Kedar Jadhav also had a forgettable World Cup where his slow batting against England copped a lot of stick from fans and experts. Jadhav batted as low as No.7 in the games he played but in those limited opportunities he got, the diminutive right-hander did precious little. His bowling too did not come into play as Ravindra Jadeja was later preferred to him and did well too.
Vijay Shankar
He was asked to bat at the highly talked about No 4 spot after Dhawan got injured and K.L. Rahul had to open the batting with Rohit Sharma. Shankar got starts and against Pakistan bagged a first-ball wicket too. Skipper Kohli backed him at media conferences but in the end Pant was picked over him as he got injured and was subsequently ruled out.
While Shankar is still only starting his career as a India all-rounder, the Tamil Nadu player could find it difficult to break into the next 50-over World Cup team with India looking as Hardik Pandya as the main all-rounder in the team.
Kuldeep Yadav
The chinaman bowler bowled a classic to castle Babar Azam during India’s game against Pakistan in the World Cup. But that was perhaps Kuldeep’s only memorable contribution as Yuzvendra Chahal was preferred over him. Kuldeep had a dismal IPL too and he is slowly becoming predictable which is a bane for his ilk of bowlers. It’s still early to say whether he would be part of India’s World Cup plans in 2023, but things are not looking too bright at present. He will need to spend quality hours at the nets and follow it up with performances in the domestic circuit if he wishes to make a return to the national set-up soon.
(Debayan Mukherjee can be contacted at debayan.m@ians.in)
(IANS)
