Here are some big names Virat Kohli and BCCI missed out for 2019 World Cup squad

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 15-member World Cup squad in a press conference yesterday. The board earlier had a meeting with the current Indian skipper Virat Kohli before announcing the team. The World Cup squad saw some surprise inclusion but some big names were also left out from the team.

Ravichandran Ashwin is one such player who was left out from the squad. Ashwin was part of the team in 2011 World Cup winning team and played a crucial part in 2015 World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand. Ashwin was part of the team that became first Asian team to win a Test series in Australia and last played ODI in 2017 Champions Trophy. But his recent form in the Indian Premier League was being talked about by cricket pundits, something that could have helped him to secure his place in the World Cup team.

Suresh Raina last played for India in India’s tour of England in 2018, where he failed to impress with his performance. Raina has played 2011 and 2015 World Cup for India and his fans were hopeful that he would get a chance in 2019. But his form was not in favour of him, though he is performing well in the IPL. Raina is one of the highest run scorer in the lucrative T20 league, alongside Virat Kohli.

Ishant Sharma looked really good in the recently concluded Test series in Australia and his performance with the ball in the ongoing IPL is what he hoped for would get him a place in the World Cup team. But Sharma was left out from the squad when BCCI’s MSK Prasad announced the team yesterday.

Vijay Shankar is one of the surprise element that BCCI gave in yesterday’s press conference. Shankar was selected on the basis of his performance in last 24 months. Dinesh Karthik was chosen over Rishabh Pant as BCCI wanted an experienced player instead of a young power hitter.

The 2019 World Cup will take place in England and Wales starting from May 30. The first match is between the host England and South Africa. India will also play their first match against the Proteas on June 5.

Here’s the World Cup squad for 2019:

Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuveneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja

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