My World Cup XV

'Tis the year of the World Cup. The Brits are chanting, as is their wont, that its coming home. Well, unlike last year's FIFA World Cup, the ICC Cricket World Cup is going to be at Lord's, the "Home of Cricket". Its a different matter that it might not be staying there come July!

Meanwhile, the ten Boards have commenced the task of selecting their squads for the tournament. New Zealand have been first off the mark in this regard, while India are about to announce their XV on April 15, i.e. tomorrow. So in anticipation of the 3 wise men, Slipstream Cricket decided to announce its probable lineup.

As is always the case, most of the squad picks itself. Yet, there are some pieces which refuse to fit in the jigsaw. We have the vexed No. 4 debate, plus the back-up bowling attack composition and the extra wicket-keeping debate.

Certainties - Kohli, Rohit, Dhawan, Jadhav, Dhoni, Hardik, Bumrah, Shami, Bhuvneswar, Kuldeep, Chahal

Now for the debates

• I pick Ishant for his experience and the fact that he is a much improved bowler than his current record. Otherwise we have Navdeep Saini (yet to make his international debut), Deepak Chahar (not too experienced), Siraj, Khaleel & Umesh (too wayward).
• Ravindra Jadeja takes the second all-rounder and 3rd spinner slot ahead of Kruna Pandya.
• Vijay Shankar has done enough at international level and in the IPL to retain the No. 4 slot and he bowls a few overs of seam as well.
• KL Rahul gets the back-up batsman and the backup keeper slots ahead of Karthik & Pant. 

In case of injury, BCCI has enough financial muscle to even get Jet Airways up and running to fly-in any replacement even at a short notice. Or they can have the reserves move around as part of the support staff, like Dhawal Kulkarni was last time around!

So here are Slipstream Cricket's pick for the India's World Cup squad.

Batsmen - Kohli, Rohit, Dhawan, Jadhav, Rahul

Wicket-keepers - Dhoni

All-rounder - Hardik, Vijay Shankar, Jadeja

Seamers - Bumrah, Shami, Bhuvneswar, Ishant

Spinners - Kuldeep, Chahal

Lets see what the slection panel comes up with tomorrow!