The World Cup is now only a week away and while the big teams have begun their preparation for the tournament and the warmup games beginning soon, there is also another bunch of cricketers who didn’t make it to the final fifteen due to various reasons.

World Cup 2015 – The team that missed out

Here is a quick look at the team that just missed out:

Alistair Cook (C) – England

After being at the helm of affairs for all these years in the run up to the World Cup, Alistair Cook found himself unceremoniously dropped from the squad just a couple of months before the main event. The axe took a while coming though as Cook had been in a bad patch without a test century since 2013. The ODI patch was much longer, and Cook was unceremoniously dropped a few days before his 30th birthday

Kamran Akmal: (WK) – Pakistan

After being Pakistan’s first choice keeper for almost a decade, Kamran faced some stiff competition for the keeper’s gloves from the past two years; first from his own brother Umar Akmal and then from the ever impressive Sarfaraz Ahmed. Frequent mistakes from behind the stumps and inconsistency with the bat coincided with Sarfaraz’s brilliant year with the bat and that eventually cost Kamran a place in the final World Cup squad to Australia.

Kevin Pietersen – England

Despite being England’s best batsman by a proverbial mile, Kevin Pietersen was axed from the English squad a year ago after a disastrous Ashes, for reasons other than cricket and hasn’t been considered for national selection since. Pietersen showed that he still had it in him to score big as he finished as the second highest run scorer in the Big Bash League in Australia.

Yuvraj Singh – India

The omission of Yuvraj Singh from the national squad looked certain for quite a while now. After winning the Most Valuable Player in the previous edition of the World Cup, Yuvraj was diagnosed with a life threatening cancer. The all-rounder, though, showed his fighting spirit to bounce back from the tumor and earn a recall to the national squad. Yuvraj hasn’t remained the same player since after having issues with fitness and form. An uncharacteristic innings in the final of the World T20 final was the final nail in the coffin. Yuvraj, as he had done throughout his career, refused to accept defeat and bounced back with three consecutive tons in the Ranji Trophy prompting selectors to have a long discussion about including him in the final squad for the World Cup.

Dwayne Bravo – West Indies

Probably, the most surprising exclusion of them all, Dwayne Bravo was excluded from the West Indies’ World Cup team along with Kieron Pollard due to disciplinary reasons. Bravo was the captain of the squad that walked out midway through the tour of India, and led the players’ protests against the administration and board. The decision came at a price though, as Bravo found himself missing from the final squad of 15 despite being the best all-rounder in the Caribbean.

Jimmy Neesham – New Zealand

Only around an year ago, Neesham was seen as New Zealand’s next big all-rounder after the likes of Jacob Oram and Scott Styris’ retirement. He could bowl at a decent pace and could use the long handle to good effect – just the perfect mix of a player that would be an utility in the shorter versions of the game. However, after a blazing start to his career, Neesham’s numbers began to dwindle rapidly and before he knew it, he was out of the squad.

Ryan McLaren – South Africa

Another surprising exclusion is the one of Ryan McLaren, who can hurry up the batsman with his pace bowling and can be a handy lower order bat. However, the presence of a strong top order meant that McLaren’s batting abilities were not necessarily in South Africa’s plans and the tall, lanky all-rounder eventually lost his pace a specialist bowler in Wayne Parnell.

Ravi Rampaul – West Indies

Over the past couple of years, Ravi Rampaul has probably been West Indies’ best pace bowler. However, the emergence of quicker bowlers in Roach, Edwards and the new skipper Holder, meant that Rampaul’s services were no longer required and it remains to be seen if West Indies will miss his wily experience amongst an inexperienced line-up.

Ryan Harris – Australia

Ryan Harris missed a fair bit of international cricket after undergoing a shoulder surgery after the successful Ashes sojourn. But his performance in the recent Test series against India had a few people speculating about his chances for making the cut for the World Cup squad. However, the Aussie selectors had different thoughts as they opted for the young Pat Cummins to lead the attack going in to the mega event.

Saeed Ajmal – Pakistan

The irony of Ajmal is that he leads the ICC Bowler’s charts as we head in to the World Cup week, but does not find himself a part of the Pakistan squad which travelled to Australia. After bamboozling batsman for the last couple of years with his wrong ones, Ajmal’s action was called for chucking and was suspended from bowling. He recently got a clean chit from the ICC, but it was too little, too late as the teams had already been selected.

Sunil Narine – West Indies

Narine ranks second in the list of ICC Bowlers, but like Ajmal, will not be participating in the World Cup due to a suspected action. Over the past couple of years, Narine proved his worth, especially in the IPL, where he restricted batsmen to just playing out his spell. Narine was first called for chucking in the Champions League, following which he pulled out of the tour of India. He was initially selected in the World Cup squad, but pulled out himself as his action was not yet cleared thus weakening an already troubled West Indies squad.

Other notable exclusions:

AbdurRazzak (Bangladesh)

Kieron Pollard (West Indies)

Junaid Khan (Pakistan)

Robin Peterson (South Africa)

Ishant Sharma (India)

Mohammed Hafeez (Pakistan)

Tags: Alistair Cook, Cricket, Dwayne Bravo, Kamran Akmal, Kevin Pietersen, World Cup 2015, Yuvraj Singh