India World Cup squad announcement: Likely team to be picked by BCCI selectors

The BCCI selection committee will meet in Mumbai on Monday to pick India's 15-man squad for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.

There are no major surprises expected, given the consistency of the core group of players to have played ODIs for India over the past 18 months. India skipper Virat Kohli said earlier this year that IPL performances will not be criteria for World Cup selection, but whether the selectors look at the past three weeks of IPL 2019 remains to be seen.

Ahead of the announcement of India's World Cup team, here is the predicted squad and a breakup of players based on skill set.

BATSMEN

Virat Kohli

India's captain and the top-ranked ODI batsman, Kohli will lead the team for the first time at a World Cup. After a slow start to IPL 2019, Kohli has scored 84, 41 and 67 in a row for RCB over the past week.

Rohit Sharma

India's vice-captain and No 2 in ODIs, Rohit is the scorer of four double-centuries in ODIs and is one of the most consistent openers in the format. Since the 2015 World Cup, Rohit averages 61.12 from 71 ODIs with 15 hundreds.

Shikhar Dhawan

Rohit's opening partner in ODIs, Dhawan's form has been inconsistent in 2019 but he remains one of the preferred openers. With success in England - his ODI batting average there is 65.06 - Dhawan will team up with Rohit again to try and deliver India strong starts.

Mohammed Shami

A leaner and fitter Shami's resurgence in ODIs this year has marked him out as a new-ball option for India in England, which could even push out Bhuvneshwar from the XI. His pace and accuracy in Australia and New Zealand was vital to India winning both series.

SPIN BOWLERS

Kuldeep Yadav

India's lead spinner in ODIs, the wristspinner is another for whom this will be a maiden World Cup. With success overseas, Kuldeep is a major threat to all opponents.

Yuzvendra Chahal

Kuldeep's spinning partner, Chahal has had to sit out on several occasions this year when India have accommodated an allrounder, but his value is golden. When he and Kuldeep have played in tandem the results have been very good, but whether the team management pairs them up frequently in England remains to be seen.

India's predicted World Cup squad:

Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul

India s probable World Cup XI:

1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Jasprit Bumrah