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Dhoni hints Kohli will play instead of Raina

The most heated debate in recent weeks about the composition of the Indian team for the World Cup has been who among Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina will make the final XI. MS Dhoni gave the first clear indication of the Indian team's decision when he said, after the warm-up match against New Zealand, that the in-form Kohli is likely to play at No. 4 in the opening match against Bangladesh.

"Right now it is a matter of deciding slots; it's the No. 4 slot where Virat Kohli needs to bat with Gautam [Gambhir] at No. 3, because to perform to his potential Virat needs to bat up the order," Dhoni said in Chennai. "Raina has done well for us batting at No. 5 and No. 6, still there's a bit of a chance that Virat may get an edge over Raina seeing the current form that he [Kohli] is in."

A starting spot in the World Cup will be a reward for Kohli, who has soared to second spot in the ICC one-day batsmen rankings on the back of several outstanding series. His journey to becoming a first-choice player began with the chances he got in the absence of some of the senior players from one-dayers over the past year. He backed up a match-winning hundred against Australia, in October, with plenty of runs in the home series against New Zealand, before looking the most assured of the India batsmen against the pace of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel in the South Africa one-day series. He was also fluent in both of India's warm-up matches, making 21 against Australia and a brisk half-century against New Zealand.

Raina has been a regular with the Indian side for a couple of years now, but his patchy recent form seems set to cost him his place at the start of cricket's marquee tournament. He has only one half-century in his previous 21 innings, and even the 25-ball half-century he hammered against New Zealand on Wednesday hasn't, apparently, been enough to convince the team management.

Another middle-order batsman whose recent form hasn't been great is Yuvraj Singh, who didn't bat in the warm-up against New Zealand. With India playing only four specialist bowlers, and Virender Sehwag's shoulder problem still preventing him from sending down his offspinners, Yuvraj's regular contributions with the ball will be important to the balance of the side. "Once Yuvraj gets going in a series, he makes it a point that India wins that series; that's definitely a big positive," Dhoni said. "Also being a proper left-arm spinner, he has been contributing in all the games right from South Africa, taking the ball away from the batsmen. It's another big asset that he has got which gives him an edge over the others."

Yuvraj's batting form is shaping up as a big factor in deciding which of Kohli and Raina will play. He will start out the World Cup at No. 5, but could move up a slot if he hits form. If that happens, Kohli looks likely to have to vacate not just the No. 4 spot but a place in the team itself as the management rates Raina as a better player in the lower order, in the subcontinent. "Once Yuvraj gets going and he scores one or two fifties, that will be the time when we will be in a dilemma," Dhoni said, "because that No. 4 slot is very important for us, and if Virat is to bat at No. 5, 6 or 7 then his performance will get affected, because he's the kind of player who likes to spend a bit of time initially and then look to go after the bowlers."

Laxman and Steyn lead nominations

With match-winning innings in three Tests, VVS Laxman has the most nominations for the ESPNcricinfo Awards 2010, the winners for which will be announced on Monday in Bangalore. Laxman faces competition in the Test batting performance of the year category from Alastair Cook, whose unbeaten 235 in the first Ashes Test at the Gabba launched England's victorious campaign, and Hashim Amla, whose 123 in Kolkata, nearly secured a draw for South Africa.

In reflection of the fierce competition between India and South Africa in Tests, South African bowlers cornered three bowling nominations, with Dale Styen having two. Pakistan were in the news for the wrong reasons for most of 2010, but that they had a wonderful year with the ball is backed up by nominations for Mohammed Asif, Mohammed Amir and Wahab Riaz.

England's James Anderson, ranked No. 3 among Test bowlers, is giving Steyn tough competition. Anderson destroyed Pakistan in the first Test at Trent Bridge with figures of 6 for 17, after he had taken five wickets in the first innings. Mitchell Johnson's searing spell of 6 for 38 in third Ashes Test at the WACA and Mohammad Asif's 6 for 41 in Sydney are also in the running.

In one-day internationals, both the batting and bowling performance of the year have clear frontrunners. Sachin Tendulkar's 200* against South Africa in Gwalior, the first double-century in ODIs, is the favourite, though Abdul Razzaq's 72-ball 109 against South Africa in Abu Dhabi, which helped Pakistan chase 287 with a ball to spare, could spring a surprise. In the bowling category, Umar Gul's match-winning spell of 6 for 42 against England at The Oval is a prime contender. Not too far behind are Ryan Harris' two performances: 5 for 19 in Perth, which helped Australia win an ODI against Pakistan for the first time at the WACA, and 5 for 32 against England at The Oval.

The voting trends were closest in the Twenty20 batting category, with hardly anything separating Brendon McCullum's 116 off 56 balls against Australia in Christchurch and Michael Hussey's 60 off 24 balls against Pakistan in the World Twenty20 semi-final. Among bowlers, the battle is between Shaun Tait and Tim Southee. Tait helped Australia clinch a tight victory against Pakistan at the MCG with 3 for 13 in four overs - the only Australian bowler to concede less than six an over in that match. Southee took New Zealand's second Twenty20 hat-trick as he ripped through Pakistan during a spell of 5 for 18 in four overs in Auckland.

The jury for the ESPNcricinfo awards comprises former cricketers Sanjay Manjrekar, Geoff Boycott, Kepler Wessels, Ramiz Raja, Tony Greig, Martin Crowe and Ian Chappell, as well as Sambit Bal, Andrew Miller, Peter English, Osman Samiuddin and Sharda Ugra from ESPNcricinfo.

Sachin Resume - Sachin Tendulkar

TEAM STANDINGS FOR WORLD CUP

TEAM STANDINGS

Group A Team P W L T NR PTS NRR      Australia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0      New Zealand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0      Pakistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0      Sri Lanka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0      Zimbabwe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0      Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0      Kenya 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Group B Team P W L T NR PTS NRR      Bangladesh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0      England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0      India 0 0 0 0 0 0 0      South Africa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0      West Indies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0      Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0      Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Fitness aside, India's World Cup squad almost set

Fitness, and not form, seems to be the current refrain with India, who are going to announce their 2011 World Cup squad on Monday. They have taken every precautionary measure to ensure their first-choice players are fit for the tournament: Virender Sehwag, Praveen Kumar, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir have all been sent back from South Africa. If they are all fit, or if it is believed they will regain fitness by the time the event starts, this will be a fairly easy selection meeting. Thirteen of the 15 places are sealed, and the debate is likely to centre around the second reserve batsman and the reserve spinner.

If India have everything their way, Tendulkar and Sehwag will be back to open the innings, followed by Gambhir at No.3. The middle order will comprise Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan, with Virat Kohli constantly pushing for a place in the starting XI. Harbhajan Singh will be the first-choice spinner, while the fast-bowler pool will contain the following players: Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel. Only injury should keep any of these 13 out.

That leaves two places - an extra spinner and a middle-order batsman. R Ashwin, despite being the second-best limited-overs spinner in the country, might get overlooked because India already have an offspinner in Harbhajan, and most of their part-timers are offspinners too. That should make Pragyan Ojha the front-runner for the job - he has performed decently whenever he has been given a chance to play limited-overs games - but he seems to be out of favour for some reason. If the squad selected for the one-dayers in South Africa is any indication, expect to see Piyush Chawla in the side, even though he last played an ODI in July 2008.

Rohit Sharma appears to be the most likely candidate to benefit from the loss of form of the other contenders. Dinesh Karthik, who would have been a natural choice because he can double up as a reserve keeper, has played himself out of the team over the last year; M Vijay has run into ordinary form; and Saurabh Tiwary is too inexperienced to pick for a World Cup. Moreover, Rohit - like Raina, Yusuf and Yuvraj - can bowl spin. The lack of options only shows how difficult it will become for India if everybody is not fit.

India are not likely to choose a reserve keeper, but there is a solution to that. Even if they don't have a reserve keeper in the official squad, they can always have one travel with them in case he is needed at short notice. Since India play all but one of their matches in India, arranging a visa will not be an issue either.

Likely squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Piyush Chawla/Pragyan Ojha/R Ashwin