New Delhi: With mere 10 days to the start of the 2015 ICC World Cup, last-minute preparations are on for everyone involved in the cricket’s show-piece event but unluckily for the defending champions, its confusion considering their final line-up.
As many as four players are still unsure of their respective places in the squad, and talks of who will come as their prospective replacements are doing the rounds, over-time. Indian team management will conduct the all-important fitness test on Saturday to decide the fate of unfit players Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja.
Ishant, Rohit, Bhuvi, Jadeja to undergo fitness test on February 7. The possibility of them not making the final cut for the quadrennial tournament is fuelling rumours that players who were not included in the initial 15-man squad will have their chances. Among those who are in contention is a certain Mohit Sharma.
Considering the situation, Mohit along with Dhawal Kulkarni was told by the Indian team management to stay back in Australia for any contingency. Besides filling in for the injured Ishant, Mohit did reasonably well in the one-off chance he got during the recent tri-series. He returned with two wickets conceding 36 runs from the allotted 10 overs against England in a losing cause.
If either of the unfit bowlers fails to satisfy the team management, then in all likelihood, Mohit will come as a replacement. That’s probably the reason why the Chennai Super Kings player was drafted into the team for the tri-series in the first place.
According to reports, Ishant’s injury worries are more serious than that of Bhuvneshwar. Ishant missed more than four weeks action this tour Down Under and was confirmed that the Delhi paceman was struggling with his left knee by none other than skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
As for other injured players, Rohit is believed to be recovering well while Jadeja remains a concern, giving enough fuel to speculate a fairy-tale return of 2011 edition’s hero Yuvraj Singh in India reckoning.
Bureau Report
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