World Cup 2019: Vijay Shankar could get nod against South Africa

India could well go into their World Cup opener against South Africa today with two seamers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah with all-rounder Hardik Pandya lending support to the pace department. This means Mohammed Shami will be out of the playing XI that could will include the two wrist spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.

There will be no change to the top five batters (Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Mahendra Singh Dhoni) but there could be a tussle between Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar and Ravindra Jadeja. There is a good possibility of Jadeja and Kedar missing out with Vijay getting the nod.

But it all depends on the weather conditions on the morning of the match. Indeed, the Indian team look a tight outfit and it will take some magnificent cricket to beat a team like this.

Meanwhile, Australia's former and present captain - Michael Clarke and Aaron Finch respectively - reckoned that the Indian team must have Bhuvneshwar Kumar from the first game itself because he will be a major weapon when it comes to tackling Australia's David Warner in the June 9 game at The Oval. Bhuvi's incoming deliveries are lethal.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates