When the diminutive Jaywant Lele walks into the press box and
announces a team there are always a few murmurs and snickers among
scribes. Today, he announced that the selectors have decided to
replace Venkatesh Prasad with Sharandeep Singh and Saba Karim with
Vijay Dahiya for the first Test against Zimbabwe to be played in Delhi
from the 18th. Otherwise, the team that won the one-off Test against
Bangladesh remains unchanged.
Sharandeep Singh revelled in a breed of ordinary offspin that is found
in most club teams in the match against the touring Zimbabweans at
Indore. After having sufficient time to set into a good rhythm, he
managed to return to the pavilion without picking a single wicket
despite sending down 42 overs. Yet, the selectors have suddenly seen
potential in him. In their defense, Lele said, "the captain wanted an
offspinner because the Zimbabweans have many left handers in their
team." It must be recalled that the same Sourav Ganguly asked for an
offspinner before the tri-series in Sharjah. He was denied one despite
the fact that both opponents - Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka had left handers
in their batting lineups.
And as has been the case countless times in the past, Venkatesh Prasad
is the man who loses his place. The Karnataka mediumpacer has not been
in the best of form lately, but certainly does not deserve to be
dropped. Unlucky is the first word that comes to mind. Then again,
Sharandeep Singh was picked on merit, and luck had no role to play,
one is informed. There is however a curious connection between
Karnataka mediumpacers and off spinners. One remembers the failed
experiment called project Noel David. Even the then skipper Sachin
Tendulkar had never heard of this cricketer. On that occasion he was
sent as a replacement for the injured Javagal Srinath.
Vijay Dahiya's inclusion hardly comes as a surprise. Although the
captain favoured his state stumper Saba Karim, his performance in
Dhaka left little doubt in people's minds. Karim did not glove the
ball cleanly, and did little of note with the bat. Dahiya will rejoice
at the end of the day's play against Zimbabwe for his selection must
be seen as a step in the right direction. If Ajay Ratra, the long term
solution, is not yet ready to don the gloves, Indian cricket is in
safer hands with Dahiya behind the stumps rather than Karim.
One man who had serious hopes of selection and has been ignored is
Tamil Nadu offspinner Aashish Kapoor. Bowling with purpose at the
Nahar Singh Stadium against the visitors, one can visualise the drop
in his shoulders when the news reaches him. Lele said Kapoor was
discussed as was Harbhajan Singh before the decision to pick
Sharandeep was made.
John Wright, newly appointed coach of the Indian team has arrived in
India, added Lele. He will join the team day after tomorrow when they
assemble at Delhi.
The team: SC Ganguly(captain), S Ramesh, SS Das, SR Tendulkar, R
Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, V Dahiya (wicket-keeper), AB
Agarkar, J Srinath, Z Khan, Sharandeep Singh, SB Joshi and M Kartik