The squad, to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni had no major surprises with the selectors opting to go with four specialist pace bowlers – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav – considering the pacy wickets in Australia and New Zealand.
Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane can perform the role of the opener while Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rayudu and Dhoni will bat in the middle order. The final team has three spinners in R Ashwin, Patel and Jadeja though it is highly unlikely that more than two spinners will be in the playing XI during the matches. Yuvaraj Singh is ignored.
The final World Cup squad consisting of the folloeing members:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virat Kohli (vice-captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu, Akshar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma.
The World Cup will be staged in Australia and New Zealand from February 14 to March 29.|