Stump Vision - An indepth Cricket review and analysis

Well Balanced Test Squad for SL

Full marks to the selectors for picking the best available touring party, ignoring the new commodity, which I agree, is a safe bet!

As mentioned in my column early this morning, the selectors have not included any new faces to the Test squad, rather, they have kept faith in their players, though they have let the team down very recently - Yes, I am talking about the selectors faith in bringing back Yuvraj, Sreesanth and Ishanth Sharma.

When compared to my list, there were not much to ponder about, except the fact that Badrinath is found missing in this 15 member squad. This will surely demotivate this lad, as he could not cement in touring side for the last 5 years. The lack of confidence shown by the selectors, could mean end of the road for Badri. There are lot of young contenders waiting in the wings - the likes of Pujara, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Raina - the last 3 mentioned in this list who are already a proven factor in ODIs, are all chirpy cricketers, and unlike Badri, are self motivators. As mentioned, Yuvraj's inclusion is no surprise to this touring team  - Captain MS Dhoni, is a big fan of Yuvraj's talent, and could have insisted that he be recalled. The selectors perhaps thought that the necessary message had been delivered. This wake-up call to Yuvraj, will now do a lot of good to him and is sure to prove all his critics, once again, wrong.
Ishant and Sreesanth, part of India's last Test squad, have gone through pretty ordinary times in limited-overs cricket since then, both in the IPL and while playing for India. They were duly dropped, but are still the best bets for the Test side. More so because none of the alternatives tried in their absence have impressed enough. And Ashish Nehra is not willing to play Tests, while Praveen Kumar is strictly a limited-overs bowler. More importantly, this selection could point to a practical outlook from the selectors, that of having identified Ishant and Sreesanth as Test specialists, and having realised the need to protect them from the excessive one-day cricket, which could have played a part in their downfall.

Lack of alternatives could have prompted India to go for three spinners, giving Ojha another chance in a Test squad. The spin squad is safely in the hands of Bhajji, Ojha and Amit Mishra, leaving Dhoni nothing to complaint about.

Wridhman Saha probably, has been taken as an understudy to Dhoni and may be included in the 1st tour game.

The touring team selection clearly indicates that there will be 7 batsman (including Dhoni) and 4 bowlers (2 paceman and 2 spinners) during all 3 matches against SL. Thus when the tour starts with a three-day game at Nondescripts Cricket Club, it should provide a good competition between Ishant and Sreesanth, and Mishra and Ojha.

Squad: MS Dhoni (wk & capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag (vice-capt.), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, M Vijay, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Wriddhiman Saha (wk) For further articles, click onto Stump Vision