Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif asserted on Monday that the Indian group has the potential to win the World Cup at residence this yr and it shouldn’t be judged on the premise of two T20I losses within the West Indies. India, after successful the two-Take a look at collection and ODIs within the Caribbean, are trailing 0-2 within the five-match T20I collection, resulting in criticism over the facet’s preparations forward of two main competitions — the Asia Cup in Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the ODI World Cup at residence. Nonetheless, Kaif mentioned at a perform right here that the fears of India under-performing within the World Cup have been unfounded, though he indicated that tempo bowler Jasprit Bumrah must be totally match for the hosts to finish the title drought.
“India has misplaced simply two matches (T20Is in opposition to West Indies), so we don’t have to get overly involved. I’m seeing a whole lot of unfavorable response after the 2 losses. However I’ll solely say that our group is extraordinarily aggressive.
“I’m not going to guage (India) on two back-to-back losses (within the West Indies). The one factor is that key gamers are lacking.
“Bumrah lacking is the largest issue. If he recovers totally… one side is to finish the restoration and the opposite side is to realize match health. If he regains that (match health), it will likely be a large achieve for Group India.
“If Bumrah is totally match, we’ve got a fantastic likelihood of successful the World Cup at residence,” mentioned Kaif.
Bumrah will probably be staging a comeback in the course of the T20 collection in opposition to Eire after being out of motion for nearly a yr following a again surgical procedure, and Kaif attributed the 29-year-old fast’s absence for India’s string of losses in main competitions throughout that interval.
“Lots of people are discussing that the (India) group underneath (chief coach) Rahul Dravid misplaced the (T20) Asia Cup (final yr), the (T20) World Cup in Australia, the World Take a look at Championship in England (not too long ago).
“I perceive all that, errors have occurred. However I believe, is it not simple to play with Bumrah not within the facet. He’s the largest match-winner and Rohit Sharma did not get his providers, so take into consideration all that.
“I imagine, as quickly as Bumrah returns totally match… he wins 50 per cent of the matches for the Indian group. I believe if Bumrah is within the group and some others like KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer additionally return, we’ve got the gamers who can win the (World Cup) trophy,” added Kaif.
New gamers must wait
With children like Yashasvi Jaiswal giving spectacular performances within the collection in opposition to the West Indies, there was discuss them being thought of for the World Cup in India, however Kaif felt when the likes of Bumrah, Iyer, Rahul return to the facet, even somebody like Mohammed Siraj will discover it troublesome to discover a place within the squad.
“Shreyas Iyer is injured, KL Rahul is recovering. I hope they are going to all return to the facet (in time for the World Cup). So all this discuss new gamers coming into the facet (for the World Cup), they won’t get an opportunity within the group. Your (Group India’s) XI is all set,” averred Kaif.
“Iyer, when he returns, will play at No. 4. You could have Shubman Gill and skipper Rohit Sharma (as openers), at No. 3 you might have Virat Kohli, at No. 4 you might have (Shreyas) Iyer, at No. 5 you might have KL Rahul.
“Hardik Pandya at 6, (Ravindra) Jadeja at No.7, Axar Patel or Shardul Thakur will play at No.8 relying on the situation (of the pitch). At No.9, you should have Kuldeep Yadav… he has a very good ODI file, and and at No. 10 and 11 you should have the 2 quick bowlers Mohammed Shami and Bumrah.
“Even Siraj may not discover a place within the XI. So, when it will likely be troublesome to accommodate Siraj, then the brand new gamers we’re speaking about, they won’t get the chance on this World Cup,” mentioned Kaif.
Kaif added that his logic was primarily based on the truth that seniors will get the primary alternative to be within the squad and gamers like Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav will get a look-in forward of some new faces.
“If in any respect there will probably be somebody within the squad, it might be Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav as a result of they’ve been taking part in for a few years.
“The brand new faces individuals are speaking about are just for this (West Indies) tour. When the Asia Cup and the World Cup are performed, then solely the senior-most gamers will play.”
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
Subjects talked about on this article
