Former Indian Skipper Mohammed Azharuddin Picks His Playing XI For ICC World Cup 2019; Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni And Kedar Jadhav Included

Former India skipper Mohammed Azharuddin joined Harbhajan Singh as he picked his starting XI for India in the upcoming ICC World Cup, later this year.

Former India skipper Mohammed Azharuddin joined Harbhajan Singh as he picked his starting XI for India in the upcoming ICC World Cup, later this year. There were quite a few interesting choices the former skipper made. Azhar feels young Rishabh Pant and former skipper MS Dhoni, both will feature in the first match against South Africa. He also feels that Kedar Jadhav will find a spot and Dinesh Karthik will not make it to the XI and the squad. Talking to Hindustan Times recently, Azhar said that he would pick Rishabh Pant instead of the much favored Ambati Rayudu for the crucial number four position, which is not the common notion.

His XI features Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami as the pacers and Hardik Pandya will be the sole fast-bowling allrounder, which means Vijay Shankar misses out. Azhar feels only one spinner will be picked between Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. His middle-order options are Rishabh Pant at number 4, MS Dhoni at number 5, Kedar Jadhav at number 6 and Hardik Pandya at number 7.

Mohammed Azharuddin’s Indian playing XI for WC 2019

Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C), Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav /Yuzvendra Chahal

Meanwhile, the BCCI has announced the squad for India’s upcoming series against Australia at home. Earning his maiden call-up, leg-spinner Mayank Markande was on Friday picked for the two-T20I series against Australia as skipper Virat Kohli returned to lead the side following a break.

Kohli had sat out the final two ODIs and the three T20Is against New Zealand but is back to lead the team in the entire series against the Kangaroos.

For 1st and 2nd ODI: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohamed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, Siddharth Kaul, KL Rahul.

For remaining 3 ODIs: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant.

For T20I series: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Sidharth Kaul, Mayank Markande.