With the ODI World Cup on the horizon, several cricket experts have started sharing their picks who might feature in India's squad for the marquee 50-overs tournament and the latest name to come up with his own set of 15 players is former India opener, Wasim Jaffer.
India will be hosting the ODI World Cup for the first time since 2011. The Rohit Sharma-led side will be under a bit of pressure since the home crowd will be expecting the team to repeat the heroics of 2011.
It was the MS Dhoni-led Indian side that clinched the 50-over silverware for the first time while competing as hosts - a trend that has continued since then.
While Australia won the 2015 edition under the leadership of Michael Clarke after they defeated their Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand, it was a resurgent English side with Eoin Morgan at the helm that got the better of the Kiwis in the summit clash of the 2019 World Cup.
During an interaction on JioCinema, Jaffer named his 15 players who according to him should make it to India's squad for the world crown. He backed southpaw Shikhar Dhawan to feature in the team and mentioned that the 37-year-old might not necessarily feature in the playing XI, his presence in the squad as a backup opener holds plenty of significance.
"My three openers will be Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Shikhar Dhawan. Even though Shikhar Dhawan might not be in the initial playing XI, I believe having him as the backup opener is crucial."
Jaffer added that Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya should be there to stabilise the top, middle and lower middle order.
With the Indian subcontinent known for assisting spinners, the former Mumbai opener opined that the presence of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav will give a menacing look to India's bowling attack.
Sharing his opinion on India's seam composition, the 45-year-old stated that Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami should take up the onus of handling the new ball.
"Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav will be my three spinners in the XI."
"In my XI, I will have Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj/Mohammad Shami. I will play two seamers - Bumrah and Siraj. For me, it is very important that Hardik Pandya bowls because the World Cup is in India," Jaffer told JioCinema.
"If he bowls, I will definitely try to play three spinners, and I will definitely play both Axar and Jadeja because they are all-rounders. My third spinner will obviously be Kuldeep. My fourth seamer will be Shardul Thakur. Sanju Samson will be my backup keeper because I have already picked Shikhar as my third opener."
