Team for SA Test Series
The team for the first two tests against the proteas has been announced. As usual there were a few ripples caused by the selections.
Jaffer was retained despite performing poorly against Lee and the Aussies. He probably got the nod based on his fine performances at home last year. This will probably be his last chance and he will have a tough battle against Dale Steyn's fearsome pace and form. The fortunate or unfortunate thing is that India have two openers knocking on the doors. One is Gautham Gambhir who despite not having the best technique is in excellent form and his performances in the ODI series have brought him into reckoning for the tests. The other person is Akash Chopra who has had the most phenomenal year in domestic cricket notching up over 1400 runs last year and is somebody who has shown the right temperament to play at the international level and more importantly is somebody who complements Sehwag brilliantly. Opening is about partnerships and based on that Chopra is the best man to open with Sehwag. If Jaffer fails in the first two tests he should be replaced by Chopra.
Yuvraj Singh failed miserably in the test matches in Australia, is not fully fit, and will anyway not be part of the playing eleven. Why on earth the selectors want him to warm the bench is something which cannot be explained. This would have been an ideal time for Yuvraj to get back into shape and play some domestic cricket to get his form back before the next ODI series. Instead a youngster like Rohit Sharma could have been given a spot just to experience the feeling of being in the test side alongside the big players. It would be the best way to give the youngsters adequate feel for the test matches so that they will be ready when the need arises.
The fitness concerns over a number of players is indeed a worrying factor. Zaheer was ruled out, Ishant has been ruled out for the first two tests. Harbhajan and Dhoni are going to take fitness tests to determine if they are fit to play. And spare a thought for the ever-so-unlucky Murali Kartik, just when he gets another chance to wear the India cap he twists his ankle and is ruled out. Luckily RP Singh has recovered his fitness and will lead the pace attack. One hopes he will find his rhythm soon enough because it is never an easy thing to return after a break. Sreesanth will share the new ball with RP and captain Kumble will take charge of the spin duties alongside Harbhajan/Piyush. Irfan will have to sit out unless India want to play five bowlers.
It will be coach Gary Kirsten's first assignment and it will be interesting to see how he goes.
The team for the first two tests:
Yuvraj Singh failed miserably in the test matches in Australia, is not fully fit, and will anyway not be part of the playing eleven. Why on earth the selectors want him to warm the bench is something which cannot be explained. This would have been an ideal time for Yuvraj to get back into shape and play some domestic cricket to get his form back before the next ODI series. Instead a youngster like Rohit Sharma could have been given a spot just to experience the feeling of being in the test side alongside the big players. It would be the best way to give the youngsters adequate feel for the test matches so that they will be ready when the need arises.
The fitness concerns over a number of players is indeed a worrying factor. Zaheer was ruled out, Ishant has been ruled out for the first two tests. Harbhajan and Dhoni are going to take fitness tests to determine if they are fit to play. And spare a thought for the ever-so-unlucky Murali Kartik, just when he gets another chance to wear the India cap he twists his ankle and is ruled out. Luckily RP Singh has recovered his fitness and will lead the pace attack. One hopes he will find his rhythm soon enough because it is never an easy thing to return after a break. Sreesanth will share the new ball with RP and captain Kumble will take charge of the spin duties alongside Harbhajan/Piyush. Irfan will have to sit out unless India want to play five bowlers.
It will be coach Gary Kirsten's first assignment and it will be interesting to see how he goes.
The team for the first two tests:
Squad for the first two Tests Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble (capt), Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Sreesanth, RP Singh.
Back-up: Dinesh Karthik
Schedule:
Labels: Cricket, India, South Africa, Squad, Test Series
posted by Raj at 3:20 pm
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