Excluded from main squad; Pant, Rayudu named India's standby’s for World Cup
New Delhi: Young wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant and veteran batsman Ambati Rayudu were Wednesday named among the standbys for India's World Cup squad, reigniting their dashed hopes of making the trip to the UK in case an injury setback hits the side.
Speedster Navdeep Saini also found a place in the list of three back-ups for the mega-event starting on May 30.
Pant and Rayudu's exclusion from the squad of 15 had created quite a stir on Monday. While Sunil Gavaskar called Pant's omission surprising, the snub to Rayudu was questioned by Gautam Gambhir.
With the ICC doing away with the practice of letting countries announce a probables' list before the final squad, the BCCI also has the option of including anyone apart from these three but it is unlikely to happen.
"Just like ICC Champions Trophy, we have three standbys. Rishabh Pant and Ambati Rayudu are the first and second standbys while Saini is the bowler in the list. So if anyone gets injured, as per requirement, one of the three will be going," a senior BCCI official told PTI on Wednesday.
Rayudu took to Twitter to take a dig at his omission from the squad of 15 on Tuesday.
"Just Ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup," Rayudu wrote on his twitter handle Tuesday.
This was after chairman of selectors MSK Prasad justified preferring Vijay Shankar over Rayudu, citing the former's "three-dimensional qualities".
While Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan and Deepak Chahar will be travelling with the team purely as net bowlers, they can also be drafted in if the management feels so.
"Khaleel, Avesh and Deepak are not designated standbys. In case of bowlers, that possibility is there but when it comes purely to batsmen, it will be either Rishabh or Rayudu," the official said.
In other developments, there will be no Yo-Yo Test for the World Cup-bound players as the IPL is going to end only on May 12, just a few days before India head to the UK. India are scheduled to play their opening World Cup match on June 5 against South Africa in Southampton.
"The players are already in the middle of a gruelling T20 season. Once the IPL ends, they will need recovery time.
"It's not like that there is a gap between two series and you are having a test. If you are tired, the results may vary," the official explained.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
