2019 World Cup: Final opportunity for Ashwin, Rahane and Karthik?

With only 17 ODIs left for India before the World Cup, senior pros like Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik and Ravichandran Ashwin will aim to remain relevant in the 50-overs format in the forthcoming Deodhar Trophy.

All eyes will be on Prithvi Shaw but senior pros like Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin will aim to remain relevant in the 50-overs format when the rejigged Deodhar Trophy starts in New Delhi on Tuesday.

With only 17 One-Day Internationals left before India play their first World Cup match, the core of the team Indian team is more or less settled, which can be detrimental for the motivation for these star players, who are regulars at the Test level.

For the younger crop of domestic performers, it will be an opportunity to stake claim for the India 'A' tour to New Zealand, next month.

While his bowling partner in Tests, Ravindra Jadeja, has managed to make an ODI comeback, Ashwin has not played a limited overs game for India since July 2017.

Considering India's spin department looks settled at the moment, it will take a special effort from Ashwin to get back in the reckoning in white-ball cricket ahead of the 2019 World Cup.

His captain in the India 'A' team and Tamil Nadu teammate, Dinesh Karthik, faces a similar situation after being dropped for the ongoing limited overs series against the West Indies.

The wicket-keeper batsman did not do badly in the chances he got, most recently in Asia Cup, but following his match-winning six off the last ball in the Nidahas Trophy final, he has not done much to write home about. Young wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was brought in his place after some sizzling knocks in the Test format.

For that very reason, a successful Deodhar Trophy is a must for Karthik if he has to make a case for selection in the team for the away Australia series next month. India 'A' side also includes teenage sensation Shaw and Karun Nair, who would like to make a strong case for himself after being ignored in England.

Test vice-captain Rahane, who has not played an ODI since February, too will have to do something sensational for selectors to take notice. He was a potential candidate for the No. 4 position where Ambati Rayudu is being preferred at the moment.

Most of the performers in the recently-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy have been picked for the event which will see India 'A', 'B' and 'C' fight it out for the title. Vijay Hazare Trophy champions are not featuring this time, like the earlier editions. Overall, four games will be staged during the tournament including the final on October 27.

India 'B' will be captained Shreyas Iyer and and his Mumbai team mate will lead India 'C'.

Squads:

India 'A': Dinesh Karthik (captain, w/k), Prithvi Shaw, Anmolpreet Singh, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ankit Bawne, Nitish Rana, Karun Nair, Krunal Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shreyas Gopal, Shams Mulani, Mohammed Siraj, Dhawal Kulkarni, Siddarth Kaul.

India 'B': Shreyas Iyer (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Rituraj Gaekwad, Prashant Chopra, Hanuma Vihari, Manoj Tiwary, Ankush Bains (w/k), Rohit Rayudu, K Gowtham, Mayank Markande, Shahbaz Nadeem, Deepak Chahar, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat.

India 'C': Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Abhinav Mukund, Shubman Gill, Ravikumar Samarth, Suresh Raina, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (w/k), Vijay Shankar, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Papu Ray, Navdeep Saini, Rajneesh Gurbani, Umar Nazir.