Dear Cricket Lovers,
Two of the five veterans of Indian Cricket retired in last series. With series with England coming up, a lot of thought process will go into finding out their replacements. While Anil Kumble’s replacement is likely to be Amit Mishra, a three players are eyeing for Ganguly’s spot. I will come back to Kumble’s possible replacements later.
Purely based on form of past one year and consistency, Suresh Raina should be the front runner. But we never know the selector’s mind. All we know that they might stick to Murali Vijay as opener and bring Sehwag or Gambhir at number 3, with Dravid falling to # 5 or 6 spot. If we go by the precedence, or the way the selectors had treated Sehwag or Ganguly when not in form, then Dravid should not be in the 15 member squad. But I don’t think selectors will be bold enough in doing that.
Assuming selectors do drop Dravid, then there would be two spots vacant. Murali Vijay has impressed in the two innings he has played and comes from the state of the Chief Selectors. While I don’t doubt Srikanth’s judgment we don’t know what transpires behind the scene. Vijay is promising and is in form and therefore should be considered seriously for either of the first three spots. Yuvraj’s inning in the last one day match may prompt selectors to pick him up for Ganguly’s place. But considering the consistency with which he is getting injured, and restrictions these fitness problems pose on this greatest skills (fielding), I would not risk him using in a five day match and there by losing him even for one dayers. Another strong contender is Rohit Sharma. No doubt he is most talented of all discussed, but has not been consistent during the last year plus.
Now the question of Kumble. I think Piyush Chawla should also be a strong contender. He is promising, young and has performed consistently. He has never been given a long lease. Frequently in and out scenario shakes the confidence of a young player. Pragyan Ohja is another person. I think Piyush Chawla has been a better batsman then Mishra and Ojha. So it is a toss up, and considering the fact that Mishra did get 5 on debut and is in the team, it is likely he would continue, which is fine too.
Based on all these facts, I would go for the following line up
Gautam Gambhir
Virender Sehwag
VVS Laxman
Sachin Tendulkar
Suresh Raina
Rohit Sharma
M S Dhoni
Harbhajan Singh
Zaheer Khan
Amit Mishra
Ishant Sharma
Reserves
Murali Vijay
Piyush Chawla
Munaf Patel
S Badrinath/ Manoj Tewari
Opting out of Dravid is going to create a lot of heat, but as senior players had said time and again that form and not the age should be a selection criteria, then on their own logic Dravid should make a come back of his own like Ganguly and Sehwag had done.