Indian Team selection - A new bunch of Champions?

From the time the new selection committee headed by Sandeep Patil took over, they have done a commendable job in removing the excess baggage (read Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir ).With an eye on future, they have blooded two young openers in the Test series against Australia at home and a spin bowling all-rounder, giving India an option to play 5 bowlers, in home Tests atleast. However, the litmus test for this selection panel begins now with the many overseas tours lined up, starting with the Champions Trophy in England.

The squad, as was expected, is on the expected lines, barring a couple of selections/non-selections which are debatable. Among those who are not selected, it is Yuvraj Singh’s omission which raises questions. There is an argument against Yuvraj that he has only one ODI fifty to show after his return from illness, but there is no better impact player in one-day cricket than the man who almost single handedly won the last World Cup for India. So if Yuvraj was to get selected, who would have missed out from the chosen 15? M Vijay is the clear choice perhaps, because Dinesh Karthik has done enough in IPL 6 to warrant a place in the squad and let’s not forget, Karthik, unlike M Vijay, can either open the batting or fit into the middle order. Moreover, Vijay doesn’t inspire confidence currently in his Chennai Super Kings (and India) skipper to be a part of the starting XI in his franchise team. The only reason which would have gone in his favour is the continuity factor at the top of the order following a very productive Test series against Australia at home, where he scored 2 hundreds and a fifty.

Four years ago, after scoring more than 400 hundred runs in an away series against New Zealand, including a stellar innings to save the Napier Test for India, Gambhir was touted as the “new wall” of Indian cricket. Greater things were expected of the diminutive left hander but he has failed to deliver and take his game to the next level. Being left out of the Test series against Australia has charged him up so much so that he seems to be showing his frustration on the field by getting into verbal volleys with his India team-mates in IPL. So where does this leave Gautam Gambhir? For starters, he has got a life-line by virtue of being selected as one of the six probables for the Tri-Series which follows the Champions Trophy in the West Indies, and then there is an India “A” tour to South Africa in July. Selection meetings for these two tours will give Gambhir a fair idea where he stands in eyes of the selectors or else it’s back to the grind of domestic cricket to try and reclaim his spot in the India team.

Rohit Sharma gets one more opportunity after yet another decent show in franchise cricket. It’s high time this “talented” batsman delivers for the country or else he will end up as one of the biggest enigmas of Indian cricket.

Among the bowlers selected for Champions trophy, good performers in IPL – Vinay Kumar and Amit Mishra (though he was in the ODI squad which last played against England at home) – have been rewarded. Some might argue Praveen Kumar would have been a better choice ahead of Vinay Kumar, but this is something only time will tell.

The team is selected with one eye on the future, with no laggards in the field. But in a short tournament with a format like Champions Trophy, the Indian team will have to hit the ground running right from the word go because if they blink, chances of reaching the semis will be bleak.

Will this team be a new bunch of champions? We will wait and see!