Cricket - India announces its 16-man Squad for Lanka series
India has announced its 16-man squad for the Sri Lankan test series. The Asian champions had barely arrived back home when they were told whether they were required for the next month’s Test series in Sri Lanka or not.
Middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh, who was axed from the recently concluded Asia Cup squad, has found his way back into the squad for next month’s Sri Lankan tour. Yuvraj was left behind to relax and cope with his form and fitness issues. The selection committee has given him another chance to prove by including him in the test squad. Suresh Raina, Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma have also been recalled to the 16-man squad.
Some surprising selections have also been made by the selectors; some remarkable performers of the recent tours to the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, including Dinesh Karthik and Rohit Sharma, have been left behind.
Ashish Nehra does not feel himself good for test cricket while Praveen Kumar is stringently a limited-overs bowler. All this made India to go back to Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma who fell out of form on earlier tours. Hence, two pacers were called back regardless of lack of match practice and their chances to regain form.
India's plunging fast bowling resources is still a considerable cause of concern, aside from the fitness and fielding of the men in blue. India’s bowling attack could not impress as such in the Asia Cup except for Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan. The selectors preferred experience rather than trusting the newer crop of pacers such as Vinay Kumar and Ashok Dinda. Both these new faces failed to make a big impression during Zimbabwe tour.
The only player who has been rewarded for his showings during 2010 tours is Suresh Raina. He scored a hundred in the ICC World T-20 in the Caribbean and led a second-string squad for the tri-nation series in Zimbabwe last month. Though he had been struggling against the short ball in the tour of West Indies but his performance was well enough statistically, as he managed to score enough runs, to edge out players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for a middle-order spot.
The swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag is also a name in the squad. Sehwag was advised a 10 day rest after he pulled a hamstring in the Asia Cup during a nail-biting match against Pakistan. However, it was Murali Vijay who benefited from his injury and got a place in the squad as a back-up opener. Vijay, if required, can play in the middle order as well. Rahul Dravid, who recovered from injury, is also back in the squad.
Bengal keeper Wriddhiman Saha got a place in the team as a back-up wicketkeeper to Skipper MS Dhoni. Saha was given a chance to play in the Nagpur Test earlier this year when Rohit got injured at the last minute. But his performance against South Africa was like a specialist batsman. Karthik has played more in the limited-overs cricket and he performed remarkably in Dambulla on Thursday, getting the Man-of-the-Match title for his half-century. Despite that, Saha was picked as Dhoni's substitute for this series, though his chances to play a Test remain doubtful. The Bengal Keeper is currently in the UK with the A team.
The Selection committee did not pick any new face for Sri Lanka, though some of them, including Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, have done very well with the A team.
Zaheer khan will lead the fast bowling attack of Indian team that includes only three seamers. Spin trio led by Harbhajan Singh includes Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra. The trio though has been notable in the shorter formats of cricket.
India on its last Test tour to Sri Lanka, in 2008, lost the series 2-1.
Indian team has recently won Asia Cup title in Sri Lanka while playing against the hosts, so they must be having high morale but nothing could be predicted on the basis of Asia Cup as there is a lot of difference between the two formats. All that India needs to focus upon is its bowling line-up.
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