Batting, legspin gave Chawla the edge

So the 15 to represent India in their home World Cup have been chosen, and barring the odd spot there is not much to complain about. Thirteen of the 15 players picked themselves, and it can't be too bad a place to be at. The last two positions, which went to R Ashwin and Piyush Chawla, were always going to be the ones that would be debated.

On skill and form alone, there is no doubting Ashwin is the second-best limited-overs spinner in the country, but because of the presence of many offspinners - full-time and part-time - the team management is believed to have preferred Piyush Chawla. Still, Chawla had competition from Pragyan Ojha as the bowler who takes the ball away from right-hand batsmen, and someone who has performed decently in whatever opportunities he has got. Chawla, on the other hand, last featured in an ODI in July 2008, and has never played an ODI in India, where his team will be playing all its matches bar one.

MS Dhoni, not speaking directly about the selections, gave an insight into why Chawla might have been preferred. "It's good to have him in the side when it comes to the variety in the spin department, and of course he is one guy who can bat a bit," Dhoni said. "I am not saying he is a specialist batsman, but you know when he went to county cricket he scored a fair amount of runs, which means he can bat at No. 7 for us if we feel the five-bowler tactic needs to be employed."

That being the case, the selectors went for another slow bowler who could play as a lead spinner in case Harbhajan Singh gets injured. That put paid to Rohit Sharma's hopes of making it to the World Cup, who didn't do himself any favours by struggling in the ODIs in South Africa. Some might argue that the squad might be one batsman short, but you can't have everything unless you have a genuine allrounder in the side.

The reserve wicketkeeper is not a big issue because India will be playing all their matches after the World Cup opener at home, and if Dhoni does get injured, a replacement can be brought in at a short notice without any visa troubles. They could also keep one reserve keeper on notice, and have him travel to the match venues in case he is needed.

Only fitness could have kept the other 13 out, but obviously the selectors would have made sure that none of the injuries or niggles is serious enough to last till the start of the event. Munaf Patel, thanks to a good comeback to the ODI side, and Ashish Nehra, despite two bad games in South Africa, have kept Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth out. It would have been unfair to drop Nehra after these two off days because ever since his comeback he has been Dhoni's go-to man, especially during the batting Powerplay. Ishant's form anyway doesn't recommend him.

Yusuf Pathan's century against New Zealand in Bangalore, his good domestic season and Ravindra Jadeja's continuous failures at No. 7 made that decision easy too.

In the batting line-up, Yuvraj Singh has shown positive signs, making Dhoni breathe easier. Virat Kohli is as good a 12th man as any, if he doesn't force his way into the first XI, that is.

Overall, with the constraints India have - no allrounder, not too many options - the selectors have picked a fairly balanced team. The odd grumble-worthy issue might not even come into the picture because it revolves around the 15th player in the squad.