'India has a genius called Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the team. He is the brain of cricket in the team. He understands the game so well and has experience of leading India in two WC wins. His experience will be vital for captain and coach and he can be their trump card'
Besides the duo, 2017 World Weightlifting Champion in the 48kg category, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and former Asian Games gold medallist tennis player Somdev Devvarman were conferred with the Padma Shri award.
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis picked hosts England and 2011 champions India as the title favourites for this year's ICC ODI World Cup.
Besides KL Rahul, another individual who would like to answer his critics with solid performances is Pant.
India are a flexible side with enough ammunition in their arsenal going into the World Cup, says head coach Ravi Shastri, making it clear that combinations would depend on conditions.
The International Cricket Council named four World Cup winners in a 25-member match officials' team for Cricket World Cup 2015, which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from February 14 to March 29. The team includes five officials from the elite panel of ICC match referees, 12 umpires from the elite panel of ICC umpires and eight umpires from the international panel of ICC umpires.
Earlier, Mithali Raj scored 62 off 50 balls while teenager Jemimah Rodrigues smashed 44 off 34 balls as Indian women scored a competitive 166 for 4 in 20 overs against South Africa in the fifth and final T20 International, in Cape Town on Saturday.
His cricketing brain, always sharp, was blessed with exceptional speed of information absorption and processing. He could quickly zero in on what needed to be done and use the element of surprise to overpower the opposition, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
'Warner overstepped the line a lot in his early career. He then changed into a more placid player but was then told by Cricket Australia to be the enforcer and was doing what he was told'
Meet the 15-member Indian squad selected for the ICC ODI World Cup, starting next month in Australia-New Zealand.
Ravindra Jadeja, who is still recovering from a shoulder injury, was included as the selectors felt that he would recover in time for the 2015 ICC World Cup.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann expects the upcoming limited-overs series against India to be an exciting one given the 'aggressive' brand of cricket that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men have been playing of late.
Suresh Raina said he would have been left devastated had India failed to draw the fourth and final Test against Australia in Sydney following his failures with the bat in both innings.
Indian cricket's fortunes ebbed and flowed in 2015 with Virat Kohli successfully leading the national side in Tests and Mahendra Singh Dhoni appearing to be losing his midas touch, while in off the field drama Shashank Manohar returned as the president of Board of Control for Cricket in India.
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