Some welcome selections in the ODI squad

A form player, VVS Laxman fits into the ODI squad © Getty

By making the choices they did, the selectors can be accused of not giving credence to the Challenger Trophy, in which 36 of the country's best got together for a pre-season one-day bash. Hemang Badani, Sridharan Sriram, L Balaji, Dinesh Mongia all shone, and none of them are in.

But the selectors got it right. The Challenger is not a selection tournament, nor should it be. Anybody who saw this year's edition will realize that the cricket is largely uncompetitive. Even so, it could be gleaned that Badani and Sriram may well be ready for international cricket once again. Instead the selectors chose to go with VVS Laxman, who has never flourished in limited-overs cricket.

True, Laxman is not a creature of the one-day age in the manner that Yuvraj Singh or Virender Sehwag are. But it would be inaccurate, at this stage at least, to dub him a misfit. Laxman is very much a form player; look what he did against Australia in 2001-02 in the one-dayers. Fresh from that legendary Test series, he proceeded to top both the runs and averages for India,­ and at a strike-rate of 85.

It is envisaged that Laxman will play a large part in the tour to Australia, where he will be up against much the same team that he will face now, albeit one boosted by the return of their two best bowlers. He has started this season superbly, much the same way he did 2000-01, and the time to give him a run is now. It is hoped that he can get through the series without a run-out.

By picking Aavishkar Salvi, the selectors have tried to maintain continuity. Though second choice to L Balaji for this Test series, Salvi was a part of the squad to Dhaka earlier this year. So dreary was the tournament that it was easy to forget that Salvi was looked worth persisting with.

Murali Kartik's is a welcome selection. Dropped for the series in New Zealand and the World Cup, his last series was against West Indies at home. He was splendid at that time, particularly in a series filled with runs. When Wisden Cricinfo asked experts at the beginning of the season who, apart from Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble, is the best spinner in the country, every one of them plumped for Kartik.

The door now seems shut on Dinesh Mongia and Sanjay Bangar, both of whom were part of India's World Cup squad. Odds are that both will be back at some point within a year - perhaps even this year.