India is currently entangled with Australia in the series finale at Chennai and as things stand, the game is pretty evenly poised and will most likely be heading down the wire if there aren’t any substantial changes that ensues, encompassing the possibility of a collapse which India witnessed in their last game, getting skittled out for a paltry 117.
After knocking out Australia for 269, thanks to a tight bowling display, the two Indian openers got off to a blinder. With so much to talk about India’s batting line-up, Rahul Dravid, India’s batting coach, has started zeroing in on the options available at India’s disposal for the upcoming World Cup. Albeit there is a lot of time remaining and loads of decisions that would change due to injuries and other unwanted circumstances, yet, Rahul Dravid has a serious plan going on in his mind.
Here is what Rahul Dravid had to say about his core squad members for the World Cup
Talking in a press conference, Rahul Dravid said, “I think, to a large extent, we are pretty clear about the squad and players we want. We have almost sort of narrowed it down to 17-18 players. We have a few guys who are sort of recovering from injuries and might come into the mix, depending on the timeframe of their recoveries and how long it takes for them to come back.”
He further added, “But all in all, we are pretty much in a good space, we are pretty clear about the kind of team we want to play. Hopefully, we are able to give these guys who we have zeroed in as many playing opportunities as we can. If in India, great, but even if not in India, it’s just [a matter of ensuring that] they get as many opportunities as you can [give them] to build a side.”
This is how India is planning to line up for the World Cup
The former Indian captain continued, “Within our 15 or 16 players, there are a couple of different combinations that we’d like to try and see which one’s working. It [World Cup] is a big tournament, it’s a long tournament in India, and we are playing in nine different cities and nine different conditions. So you just want to have that flexibility in your squad as well, to be able to play sometimes four fast bowlers, sometimes three spinners. Just you want to have that flexibility. Within the squad we’d like to sort of look at different options, just to ensure that we have covered all our bases for all conditions.” He also said, “To a large extent, I think we have got a lot more clarity at the end of these nine games, irrespective of whatever happens tomorrow. I think we will just keep building on that clarity. We are quite clear about the kind of squad we want. For us now, it’s really just about the different playing XI combinations and just ensuring that we play different combinations at times just to ensure that we are able to do that in the World Cup and we are not surprised by anything in the World Cup.”
