On the back of insipid performances by the so-called promising youngsters, Dada has been recalled. Good stuff I must say. Even though he hasn’t exactly covered hhimself in glory in the current domestic season (save one Duleep hundred), the selection committee might have felt that experience might come in handy on the bouncy south african pitches.
In another significant move, Sehwag has been stripped off vice-captaincy and the job has gone to Laxman. This move is significant in the light of Dravid’s broken finger. There is a good chance that he might not play the first test and his deputy will have to stand in. And for some reason the selectors don’t seem to want to hand over test captaincy to Sehwag.
On the flip side, I thought Badrinath deserved a place in the side. The Tamil Nadu captain has done pretty well in domestic cricket and even though he is not too young, he deserves a chance. We don’t need two keepers for a two test series and he could have been taken in place of Dinesh Karthik.
My take on the first team for the first test
1. Jaffer
2. Sehwag
3. Dravid
4. Tendulkar
5. Laxman
6. Ganguly
7. Dhoni
8. Kumble
9. Zaheer
10. Sreesanth
11. Patel
In case Dravid doesn’t recover in time, Gambhir will take his place and open, with Laxman moving to three, Ganguly to five and Sehwag to six.