There are seven regular spinners in the pack of 30.
Considering that the tournament Down Under will be played on faster wickets, it’s obvious that spinners are unlikely to play a significant role. In these circumstances, having one spinner in the playing eleven is the most one can expect.
India’s 30-member probables’ list for next year's World Cup was released on Thursday and the selectors expectedly reposed faith on youngsters.
The likes of like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla - who played significant parts in helping India to their first World Cup triumph since 1983 - were omitted from the bid to retain the title in thr tournament in Australia and New Zealand, starting February 14.
- Yuvraj, Sehwag, Bhajji left out of World Cup probables
So far, so good! But a glance at the list and one finds an abundance of spinners.
In fact, there are seven regular spinners in the pack of 30. Ravichandran Ashwin, Parveez Rasool, Karn Sharma, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav have all been included.
Considering that the tournament Down Under will be played on faster wickets, it’s obvious that spinners are unlikely to play a significant role. In these circumstances, having one spinner in the playing eleven is the most one can expect.
In case of any exigency Team India can always rely on the likes of Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma – all regular part-timers and certainties in the playing eleven – to share a few overs between them.
When the list is pruned to 15 in early January, it is given that not many of the spinners named will make the final cut.
So what’s point in naming so many of them?
The selectors could, instead, have given the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Dinesh Karthik and Naman Ojha a chance to impress and stake a claim. That would have ensured healthy competition for places. Naming so many spinners will only lead to complacency.
Indeed, the shortlist reeks of apathy and gives the impression that it was announced for the heck of it.
However, the final eleven, which will be announced next month, is more or less clear. Have a look.
The 'final' 15:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain)
Virat Kohli
Shikhar Dhawan
Rohit Sharma
Ajinkya Rahane
Suresh Raina
Murali Vijay
Wriddhiman Saha
Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravindra Jadeja
Ishant Sharma
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Mohammed Shami
Umesh Yadav
Varun Aaron
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