Atul Wassan dejected over Pant and Rayudu's exclusion from World Cup squad

Wassan feels the announced Indian squad is very balanced and will give stiff competition to other teams

Former India player Atul Wassan feels that the announced Indian squad is very balanced and will give stiff competition to other teams in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's Cricket World Cup 2019.

"Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli have gained this much experience and they know every player's core competencies. I do not find any loophole in this," Wassan told ANI.

Howbeit, the 51-year old has expressed his disappointment over the exclusion of Rishabh Pant and Ambati Rayudu.

"I am not happy because I thought a player like Rishabh Pant, who is a game-changer, should have been given a chance and on a stage like World Cup, he could've left a mark on the world," he said.

"Other than this nothing came as a surprise to me. I feel bad for Ambati Rayudu but things like this happen in cricket. But a better team than this cannot be formed and it is a balanced team," he added.

Wassan also prognosticated that India, England, West Indies and Australia will vie each in the semi-finals of the quadrennial mega-event which is set to commence on May 30.

"England seems very dangerous, West Indies are making their revival and Australia is looking good but India team is also right up there and I think these four teams will play in the semi-finals," he expounded.

India team for World Cup: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami.