Indian squad for tour of Sri Lanka announced
The Indian selectors announced a 16-member squad for the upcoming Test series in Sri Lanka in a meeting held at the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s head-quarters in Mumbai.
Young left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and right-hand batsman, Rohit Sharma have been drafted into the side in place of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni who have been excluded from the list.
Coming as no surprise to Indian fans, after weeks of debate, is Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s absence from the Test squad to Sri Lanka. The Indian ODI skipper had complained of exhaustion in the recently concluded Asia Cup in Pakistan and had sought a break once the Indian team arrived back in India on Monday.
Dhoni has been involved in practically all the matches his side has played since the 2007 World Cup defeat last year and his exclusion from the squad was a matter of physical exhaustion.
Dinesh Kartik and Parthiv Patel have both been included as wicketkeeper/batsmen in the side and it will be interesting to see who eventually don’s the gloves behind the stumps when the Test series starts.
Yuvraj Singh, the ODI vice-captain, is the other major exclusion from the squad. The Indian southpaw’s exclusion will present the opportunity for Rohit Sharma to make his Test debut.
Sachin Tendulkar who pulled out of the Kitply Cup and Asia Cup owing to a groin injury is back in the team. So are Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, the Indian veterans, who were ignored for the 50-over version despite commendable performances at the Indian Premier League. The Test series should be a good platform for both star batsmen to make amends and secure their places in the ODI team which otherwise boasts of the regular fresh-legs line-up. Also lending his experience to the batting order is Test regular - VVS Laxman.
Another player making a comeback after the IPL is Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
Zaheer Khan, the Indian pacer who was ruled out of the Kitply and Asia Cups, owing to an ankle injury, will re-join the sixteen-member squad in order to add the much-needed zing to the Indian pace attack. However, Sreesanth is still suffering from his injury and will not feature with the team travelling to Sri Lanka.
Virender Sehwag, who has recently complained of a groin injury, has been included in the Test squad and India will be hoping he returns to full fitness ahead of the first clash between the two teams. Gautam Gambhir, his aggressive opening partner, has also been named in the squad owing to some healthy run scoring in this calendar year in ODI’s.
Apart from Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha is the other debutant in the Indian squad and his guile with the ball should come in handy on the spinner-friendly tracks of Sri Lanka.
Fast bowler Munaf Patel, who last played against Pakistan in India’s home Test series against their arch-rivals in December 2007, too earned a recall into the Test side.
Indian chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar had earlier indicated that the best possible and most fit team to play in Sri Lanka will be picked for the series.
It will be interesting to see how the Indians tackle the Sri Lankans when the 3-Test and 5-ODI series commences on July 23.
Sri Lanka defeated India by 100 runs in the finals of the Asia Cup and the hosts will maintain the psychological edge they gained over their sub-continent counterparts. All said and done, with a heavily experienced Indian batting line-up clashing against the spin-twins of Sri Lanka, this series has all the makings of a thriller.