The Indian squad that will tour South Africa for 3 ODIs and 2 Tests staring December 5 has been announced. There have been some surprise inclusions and some surprise exclusions as always.
Zaheer Khan makes a comeback with spots in both the Test and ODI squad, Yuvraj retains his ODI spot, while Sehwag and Harbhajan have been ignored totally.
Umesh Yadav gets a spot in both squads, which is clear keeping in mind the conditions in South Africa. Pacer Mohit Sharma also gets a spot in the ODI squad for the same reason.
Here are 5 players who could have made it to the 17-member squad but didn’t, and they would surely have felt that they missed out on a chance.
5. Sanju Samson
This Kerala youngster will have to wait longer to make it to the national side. He would have fancied his chances given his recent form for his state, with 2 centuries (including a double hundred) to his name in the last 5 innings he has played.
Probably one of India’s best future prospects, he is someone to watch out for. He did will for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL as well. He has a first class batting average of 53.4 in 10 matches.
Though not as experienced as would ideally be required for selection into the Test side, he could have been given a chance considering some of the names who have been selected but have no good recent innings to speak of. If Sachin can represent India at 17, the selectors can surely give this player a chance.
If not this time, he should be given a taste of the national side soon in the future to begin what could be a long illustrious career for Indian cricket. He provides added advantage as he can keep wickets, too if skipper Dhoni wishes to let go off the gloves.
4. Ishwar Pandey
This bowler from Madhya Pradesh, who was part of India A squad as well, may soon be given a chance to play. He could have got a spot this series as well, if the selectors would have wanted to experiment with fresh faces and also for the fact that pacers are required for South African conditions.
He has as many as 113 first class wickets in 27 games, and recently gave his performance as he took 8/84 in an innings. He could very well partner Umesh Yadav who has some experience of the international stage unlike him.
The selectors have experimented with batsmen selection this time, and there is no reason they can do the same while picking bowlers. Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami got spots in both squads. Shami made it because of his recent performances against the West Indies, and Ishant for his experience in Test cricket.
Ishwar Pandey got be selected as a 4th pace option in the 17-strong squad next time to replace any of the regular ones if there is an unforeseen injury in the middle of the tour or any other hassle that will require a pacer from the bench.
3. Suresh Raina
He makes the ODI squad (obviously) but could have made the Test side as well. He did not have the greatest outings against England and New Zealand, but he is still a better bet for runs than many other names that have been picked. There is nothing wrong in grooming a player for Test cricket even if he is not in the greatest touch at present.
India’s current squad lacks experience big time, and people like Raina who have been around for quite some time should be selected for Tests to build a team that can boast of quality and experience if built properly. Same goes for Yuvraj.
With Raina, you know he will deliver. His attitude is such that he will come up with results to impress fans. Thus, he can be given a Test spot with a view to make him into a specialist Test player for the future.
Indian cricket does not have many names at present that will count as veterans some years later, and names like Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane are not sure to cement their place in the Test side and may well be replaced next tour if they underperform. Thus, the team management should look to make selections that have a good probability of continuing consistently in the Test side.
2. Dinesh Karthik
His exclusion is a surprise, as against Wriddhiman Saha and Ambati Rayudu (both of whom are wicket-keeper batsmen) who have been given a chance. Rayudu makes the ODI squad as well. Considering that Dhoni can handle the role very well, the inclusion of both of these names in the first place is hard to understand.
Dinesh Karthik’s exclusion on the other hand is a bummer. He has much more Test experience than those two, with Saha having played just 2 games till now and Rayudu who will make his debut if selected in the playing 11.
Karthik does contribute well with the bat and is also responsible with the gloves. If Dhoni is not able to keep wickets for some reason, India may well face a problem in this department as how much either of Saha or Rayudu can deliver behind the stumps on the big stage- playing Test cricket in South Africa-is doubtful.
Even Rahane who has been picked for both squads has much less experience than Karthik to speak of. Karthik should have been considered for the ODI side at least, setting his current form aside for a moment and considering the fact that 3 names that are inexperienced as compared to him have got selected, which doesn’t seem fair at all.
1. Gautam Gambhir
It seems the selectors have completely forgotten this man. He played his last Test in December, 2012 against England, when they toured India. He was one of the extremely probable ones who was expected to make a comeback in this series, along with Zaheer Khan, who did get selected.
His partnership along with Sehwag used to be one of the best opening pairs of the world, now I doubt whether we will see them together again. It is true that openers like Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay are delivering well with the bat (they did well against WI in November and Australia in March), but there is no arguing that Gambhir is in a league above these players.
And then there is his recent first-class form. He has 2 tons in his last 5 innings, with his latest one against Haryana in which he scored 153 not out, giving Delhi a comfortable win. He would have expected a spot given these innings. He is also one of the more experienced Test players of India today, and should not be ousted as seems the case will be if he is not selected for the next 1 or 2 tours.
The Indian Test squad seriously lacks the so called ‘veterans’, and names like Sehwag, Gambhir and Zaheer Khan should not be forgotten so soon. Zaheer Khan did make the list after a long absence, so should Gambhir next time the Test squad is named.
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