WC Squad can't be selected based on IPL performances: Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma believes that the players shouldn’t be judged on the basis of their performance in the cash-rich tournament

While the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is a few weeks away, the Indian selectors are keeping a close eye on the Indian Premier League (IPL) for locking the 15-man Indian squad. However, India’s vice-captain in limited-over format, Rohit Sharma believes that the players shouldn’t be judged on the basis of their performance in the cash-rich tournament. “With their inputs, the selectors will keep an eye on what is happening with those guys in IPL although I feel IPL should not be the criteria for team selection,” Rohit said. “They have played enough international matches to see where each individual stands. You can't select a team for the 50-over format from a 20-over event, it's my personal opinion. IPL is a different ball game. It’s franchise cricket and yes, form matters a lot. “In the last four years, we have played enough One Day International matches, enough T20 cricket. That should be enough for guys to understand these are the players that we want,” he added. India have a more or less settled squad for the World Cup, barring one slot and Rohit feels skipper Virat Kohli's preference is utmost most important to sort out that position. Rohit, who is a certainty in the World Cup squad as an opener, also said that the specific spot that needs to be filled would be dictated by conditions that are likely to prevail in England during the World Cup, commencing May 30. “I think we are pretty much settled. A few spots are there which everyone knows about. It all depends on what captain, coach and selectors think about the combination, whether we need to go with an extra middle-order batsman, extra opener, extra seamer or spinner. Conditions in England will matter a lot,” he said.