Indian Test Squad for the South Africa Series

The team selection for the upcoming three test series against South Africa has been a mixed bag. Included in the list are some obvious ones, a couple of surprises and a few names which could have been avoided. The selectors had the opportunity to build on the momentum of the one day series win and the decent performances in the last two tests in the recently concluded series against Australia. But as it turned out to be, looks like they have chosen to refer to the last home series against Pakistan while announcing the squad.

While Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman pick themselves, the selectors have given another run to the consistently inconsistent opener Wasim Jaffer ahead of the in form Delhi opening pair of Gautam Gambhir and Akash Chopra. This is hard to explain. The only logic that can be attached to it is that Jaffer had scored a double century against Pakistan. Other wise, after dropping him from the squad for the last two tests against Australia following his failure to score against quality bowling, there is no reason of picking him again. Quite similar is the case of Yuvraj Singh. He too was not part of the playing eleven in the last two tests against Australia, but had scored a century against Pakistan at home. But at least one can argue that Yuvraj has to be given a few more chances to prove himself in test, given his talent, whereas, Jaffer had been given enough opportunities over the last couple of years. I would have preferred to see Gambhir in the squad in his place. The lad is high on confidence after his roaring success down under and he must have been keen on extending that good run into the test arena. Vengsarkar and co have certainly missed a trick here.

For the other opening slot Sehwag has been selected, which is logical given his success against Australia. Coming to the wicket-keeping slot, Dhoni could have been given a break. Dinesh Karthick, in such a case should have got the nod, where we could have got the flexibility of another opener in the side. After such a busy and demanding tour of Australia, Dhoni deserved a break to recharge again. Given that he is the captain of the one day side and such a key player for us we need to use him sparingly in test cricket amidst such heavily crowded fixtures.

Apart from the above there was not much choice for the selection committee to fill up the other slots, for which, they have done a decent job. One notable omission being Ishant Sharma, who has not fully recovered, and in any case needed a few more days of rest.

My side (playing eleven to be precise) for the series would have been as follows:

Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
V.V.S. Laxman
Sourav Ganguly
Dinesh Karthick
Irfan Pathan
Anil Kumble
Harbhajan Singh
R.P.Singh

If need be, a fifth bowler could have been played in place of Gambhir, in which case Dinesh could have opened.