India to keep Kedar Jadhav's World Cup spot safe

Kedar Jadhav's IPL may have come to a premature end because of a shoulder injury, but his World Cup spot is likely to remain intact. ESPNcricinfo understands that the Indian selection committee, led by MSK Prasad, has been told that Jadhav's injury might not be as serious as was earlier feared.

With the ICC's playing conditions for the World Cup allowing teams to make changes to their preliminary squads of 15 until May 23, it is believed that Prasad's panel will wait till as close as possible to the Indian team's departure before naming a replacement for Jadhav, if they are forced to.

Last Sunday, playing in Chennai Super Kings' final league match in the IPL, against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali, Jadhav hurt his left shoulder while fielding in the deep. He left the field immediately and did not return.

It was understood at the time that Jadhav's IPL was likely over, and on Tuesday evening, Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming confirmed the news to the host broadcaster on the sidelines of his team's Qualifier 1 face-off against Mumbai Indians, which they lost.

"Well, he is out for us, and then it is just about being accurate with that assessment," Fleming said. "He was going through the scans and working with Patrick Farhart (the Indian team physiotherapist), so there's obviously one eye now on the World Cup and getting him fit.

"But from our point of view, he is certainly out of the tournament."

The selection panel is understood to have received an update from Farhart, which indicates that Jadhav is likely to be fully fit before the Indian squad departs for the World Cup on May 22. India play their first match at the World Cup on June 5, against South Africa.

In case Jadhav can't make the trip, the selectors will pick a replacement from the standby list of five players: Rishabh Pant, Ambati Rayudu, Axar Patel, Navdeep Saini and Ishant Sharma. Incidentally, Saini is also part of the quartet of fast bowlers who will travel with the squad to the World Cup to function as net bowlers, the other three being Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.