After a month of speculation, India finally have their 'Chosen 15' who will be defending the World Cup title in Australia-New Zealand starting February 14. But there weren't any major surprises in the squad as the build up to January 4 — the D-day — promised.
Since the announcement of 30 probables exactly a month ago on December 4, the three biggest exlusions — namely Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, all of whom played stellar roles in the previous World Cup that India won at home — went on to score centuries in the Ranji Trophy to announce that their 'innings' aren't over yet. Gambhir started the streak with a century on the first day of the premier domestic tournament followed by three back-to-back tons by Yuvraj and then two consecutive hundreds by Sehwag.
During the selection meeting on Tuesday, as BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel confirmed, "names from outside the 30 probables were discussed". And the most talked about was Yuvraj's. His case was also boosted by Ravindra Jadeja's shoulder injury that forced him to return to India leaving Test series against Australia mid-way. But in the end, no one made it.
All the five national selectors — Sandeep Patil (Chairman), Vikram Rathore, Saba Karim, Roger Binny and Rajinder Hans — met in Mumbai on Tuesday and were joined by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher through video-conferencing to pick the 15-member squad.
The squad has seven batsmen, including two wicketkeepers, three all-rounders, one spinner and five seamers.
Two players — Jadeja and Ishant Sharma — in the squad are carrying injuries. Jadeja has been recuperating from a shoulder injury, while Ishant has a knee problem and sat out of the ongoing fourth Test against Australia.
But all the members who attended the selection meeting were convinced that Jadeja will be fit well ahead of the World Cup.
"Jadeja is at present going under a rehabilitation programme. He is doing wonderfully well. We had a detailed discussion today with the BCCI physio (Nitin Patel) and we are quite hopeful he will be match-fit within the next ten days," Patel said.
"Ishant has a temporary injury with which he is doing well. But he has been advised by our present [team] physio not to play the current Test (in Sydney). He will be fit for the tri-series," he added.
SIMIlAR TYPE
The squad may not have any surprises but it certainly has some questionable inclusions. Surprisingly, the selectors have picked two left-arm spin all-rounders — Jadeja and Axar Patel — along with a specialist spinner for the surfaces that are known to assist pacers. And that too of similar types.
Three spinners could still have made some sense had they been of different kind. Both Jadeja and Axar bowl left-arm, both relies on pace than flight and turn, and both of them bat down the order. Wouldn't it have been better to have a wrist spinner in the team, considering big grounds in AustraliaIJ
Amit Mishra may have lost selectors' faith but there was another option in the form of Karn Sharma, who played in the first Test of the ongoing series and is fully acclimatised with the conditions. And, he is as good a batsman as Jadeja and Axar are.
DHONI'S STAMP
The squad clearly bears a stamp of Dhoni's authority. As a captain he likes to have players who can play dual roles. Specialists are always a second option. He prefers bowlers who can stop the flow of runs, not the wicket-takers. That's why instead of having an extra pacer in the squad, he preferred three all-rounders along with Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma, both of whom can roll their arms when needed, and Ravichandran Ashwin with proven batting skills.
He may have faced severe criticism for his defensive approach and suffered a series of losses in Tests. But, undeniably, he has been the most successful ODI skipper that India ever have. And giving him the kind of team he wants is not wrong. Afterall success is what matters.
Tri-series squad
The selectors named two extra pace bowling options in Dhawal Kulkarni and Mohit Sharma in a 17-man squad for the triangular series. Kulkarni had flown out to Australia as cover for Bhuvneshwar during the Test series, while Mohit did his cause no harm at all with a hat-trick for Haryana against Delhi in a Ranji game in lahli.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Stuart Binny, Umesh Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni and Mohit Sharma.
Squad MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Stuart Binny