Will Sachin Tendulkar Play In ICC World Cup 2015?

The title of the article could cause you to doubt my sanity, but I am talking about an event that's just four years away. And it's never too soon to plan.

Which players of the current Indian team do you expect NOT to see in the 2015 event? I definitely don't expect to see Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan. Because the shelf life of a new ball operator is naturally limited, especially when said bowlers have serious fitness concerns. Harbhajan could still be there, depending on his form, and there's no reason to believe that he will lose his guile so soon, as he will only be 32 at the time.

Players like Sreesanth and Munaf Patel are still relatively young, and should be there depending on their fitness, though how much slower Munaf will get (he is down to 122 kph) is debatable. (I expect Ishant Sharma to mature as a bowler and make a permanent pace for himself, while others like RP Singh and Praveen Kumar could be in and out of the ODI team. )Ashwin should have cemented his place in the Indian 15, assuming that he grabs the opportunities that are bound to come his way.

Coming to the batting, players like Gambhir, Kohli and Raina should definitely be there. If I see a possible casualty among the rest, it's Yuvraj, not because he needs to prove his talent or anything but owing to his fragile temperament. Sehwag is another question mark, mainly because I am not certain how long he wants to continue, but I will stick my neck out and say that he is likely to quit test cricket first, and will probably be there at the 2015 event.

I expect Dhoni to remain, though whether he is still captain could depend on how much success India achieve before then. Given the state of the competition, I expect India to do very well.

Now, it's back to the main question: will Sachin be there? If you are looking for a 'yes' or 'no' answer, then my guess is Tendulkar will still be around as a player, though I expect him to have reduced his ODI appearances, drastically, in order to concentrate on test cricket. Knowing how cricket is run in India, I expect BCCI to request Tendulkar to play in the 2015 event, and others like Gavaskar prevailing on the batsman to accept. The whole business of 'selecting' Tendulkar for the 2015 world cup will provide sufficient fodder to keep news channels busy 24x7.

And will Tendulkar accept the invitation? I suspect we will find out the answer by April 2...

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Suresh Iyer is an avid sports fan and blogger.