Let's look at the records of the players from teams out of the race-
Ishant Sharma (RFM?): His stats are decent, with eleven wickets in as many matches with an average of 27. He's had a very tight economy rate, though wickets were hard to come by, but they don't suggest how valuable he was. He bowled fast, kept it tight and single-handedly led what was an under-performing bowling attack. He's one genuine success of this series.
Zaheer Khan (LFM): With six wickets in as many matches at a good average under 24, he's had a good tournament until struck by injury, and a BCCI notice ended his campaign. It's easy to spot that the Mumbai campaign was derailed ever since, as he too was quite valuable.
Harbhajan Singh (OB): In eleven matches, he took twelve wickets, with most coming in their final match, with an average of 21. He was, however, very inconsistent, with some dreadful matches on the way. His batting was way off, as he attempted to hit a six off every delivery and ending with an average of more or less as much.
Yusuf Pathan (RHB, OB): He finished the tournament with an average a shade over 20 and a strike rate over 132 and a single score over 50, and also seven wickets with an average of 34. That's dreadful for someone on whom a whole team's fortunes depend. He only got one score over 50, and more often than not, he didn't even get a start- he was in, he hit, and he was out. It's not surprising, since he was trying to go for big shots all the time. His bowling was quite useful, but Warne eventually stopped using him and played five full bowlers instead. Once he was in the running for a top-five berth in the team, but now, he may struggle to make the XI, which will be disappointing.
Ravi Jadeja (LHB, SLA): He's got attractive statistics of a batting average over 26 with a strike rate over 110, as well as six wickets at an average slightly over 20. However, those statistics don't tell the whole story. His batting lacked striking power and he struggled to hit the big shots, and got most of his runs between the wickets. He did not score a single fifty either. His bowling, no more than Yuvraj quality, was used very sparingly by Warne, so we can't expect much in a World Cup.
Yuvraj Singh (LHB): His batting stats show he's finished with an average of 28, with two fifties and a strike rate below 120, which isn't good reading. Then again, he was a lot less relevant than the overseas batsmen in the team strategies. He bowled well, but too much, as that may have affected his batting. With few specialist batting options at hand, he has to concentrate on his batting totally.
Irfan Pathan (LFM, LHB): With a batting average of 19.6 and a strike rate over 120, together with 17 wickets at an average of 22, he's been another genuine success among the Indians in the IPL. There has been the odd bad match and when he has a bad match, it tells on the team. He was, however, quite smart and served every purpose well for his team, and will be a key player.
Sehwag (RHB): He finished with an average under 20, striking over 132 with one 50. That's not good at all. He missed a few games due to injury, but lack of big scores has weakened his team and may weaken the Indian campaign in England.
Gambhir (LHB): Another Indian batsman struggling for form, he finished with one 50 and an average a little over 22, striking over 110. The other half of India's much-vaunted limited-overs opening pair has struggled here in this IPL.
I've left out Praveen, Dhoni, Raina, Rohit, RP and Ojha because their campaign is yet to finish. Among them, Rohit is a non-factor as that team depends a lot more of Gilly, Gibbsy and Roy, while Dhoni and Raina are so far a support act to the mighty Hayden. It's a pity Manish Pandey's century came so late in the IPL, as he'd be an automatic frontrunner in this team. Luckily for the Indians, they have the easiest group in the event, so they should use this opportunity fully to get back to full batting form.
.
