India Cricket World Cup Squad 2015: Full Breakdown of Final 15
India released their official squad for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup on Tuesday, and while the final selection of 15 players didn't see any real surprises, controversy still arose over the exclusion of several big names.
Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Robin Uthappa all didn't make the cut, while Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma were selected despite recent injury concerns. Mohit Sharma and Amit Mishra are also absent.
The full Indian squad:
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| MS Dhoni (captain) | R Ashwin |
| Shikhar Dhawan | Akshar Patel |
| Rohit Sharma | Ishant Sharma |
| Virat Kohli | Mohammed Shami |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Umesh Yadav |
| Suresh Raina | Bhuvneshwar Kumar |
| Ambati Rayudu | Stuart Binny |
| Ravindra Jadeja |
The defending champions selected a particularly young squad for the upcoming tournament, as just four members on the team have previously appeared at a World Cup, per ESPN Cricinfo.
The inexperience will be felt heaviest in the bowling department, with Jadeja leading the team with 134 career wickets, according to Sportskeeda's Renton.
In total, the squad has five batsmen, two wicketkeeper-batsmen, three all-rounders, four seamers and one specialist spinner. Sharma and Dhawal Kulkarni will travel to Australia with the team to participate in the one-day tri-series after the Tests.
Sharma's exclusion from the final squad will come as a particular blow after he bagged himself a hat-trick just hours before the final 15 were announced, via ESPN Cricinfo:
Speaking on Jadeja and Ishant, the two players currently carrying injuries, BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told reporters the duo are close to returning to the pitch, per ESPN Cricinfo:
"Jadeja is at present going under a rehabilitation programme. He is doing wonderfully well. We had a detailed discussion today with the BCCI physio [Nitin Patel] and we are quite hopeful he will be match-fit within the next ten days.
Ishant has a temporary injury with which he is doing well. But he has been advised by our present [team] physio not to play the current Test [in Sydney]. He will be fit for the tri-series.
"
Fans and pundits were particularly disappointed with the exclusion of Yuvraj, who has been one of the nation's top ODI players in recent years. Actor Angad Bedi voiced what most appeared to think:
The 33-year-old has been up and down in the past two years but put together a string of solid performances in the past two months, and his powerful bat would have been a welcome addition to a young lineup lacking in big-match experience.
The one selection that has social media up in arms is Stuart Binny, however. Conspiracy theorists immediately pointed to his father Roger Binny being a part of the selection committee, as his son's play hardly seems to justify a spot in the squad.
Binny isn't a particularly successful pace bowler and his bat won't be adding a big amount of runs, either. The 30-year-old likely won't be seeing many overs at the expense of a spinner, but his selection does give Dhoni a versatile piece to play with when it suits him.
The all-rounder will be closely scrutinised during the 2015 World Cup, but if he can replicate his Indian Premier League form, Binny should be fine.
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