India had locked their No. 5 and No. 5 slots for the ODI World Cup 18 months ago, but injuries to Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant in succession threw a spanner in their works, coach Rahul Dravid said on Tuesday. 

This forced the team management to try out other players. “The No. 4 and 5 spots are discussed a lot, giving the impression that we didn’t have clarity about who is going to be there. I could have told you 18-19 months ago who the three candidates for the two spots were.