Out of those 15 players who were part of the Cup-winning campaign only Dhoni, Kohli, Raina and Ashwin remain as permanent fixtures in the Indian ODI team. Compared to the side which won the World Cup in 2011, changes will come across as drastic when the national selectors meet in Mumbai on Thursday to pick the 30-member probables for the upcoming 2015 World Cup. Sachin Tendulkar is happily retired, Sreesanth is banned for life for his alleged involvement in IPL spot-fixing, while the likes of Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir appear to have past their sell-by dates now. Down to Yuvraj, Harbhajan — out of favour at the moment but still harbouring hopes of returning to the fold. Yuvraj won the Player of the Tournament award. But he has been completely out of sorts at the moment with only one half-century in this season's Vijay Hazare Trophy. Harbhajan, too, is not making an impact in domestic cricket, even though he bowled well in the IPL and Champions League T20. The selectors have a tough call to make. According to a source close to the selection committee, if Yuvraj and Harbhajan are picked for the preliminary squad, it would be difficult to omit them from the final list. The batting line-up is well settled. So is the spin bowling department. Axar Patel's emergence has given the side more options and flexibility.
