CHENNAI: It will be a story of three duels when the Indian World Cup squad gets selected in Chennai on Monday.
The fourth pacer, second spinner, and 15th member, these are the three areas that the selectors are set to look into in the course of the meeting.
While Ashish Nehra and S. Sreesanth are fighting for the third pacer's slot, Ravinchandran Ashwin and Piyush Chawla will cross swords for the second spinner's berth. Will the selectors go for Parthiv Patel as the second wicketkeeper or will it be the all-round abilities of Rohit Sharma that will help him clinch the 15th member's slot?
That will also be high on the agenda of the selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Narendra Hirwani and Surendra Bhave---who will be in Chennai for the meeting. Yashpal Sharma and Raja Venkat will join in from Cape Town via teleconference with MS Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten, also being part of the process.
Till Saturday, there was some doubt about Munaf Patel's berth in the squad, but his match winning spell of 4-29 against South Africa in Johannesburg has made him a frontrunner for the third seamer's slot in the squad. There is no doubt about Zaheer Khan while Praveen Kumar, despite an injury he suffered in South Africa, is likely to be fit. Now that Munaf has made an impact in South Africa, it will be difficult for the selectors to leave him out. "Munaf has done well in South Africa and that's a very good sign," a selection committee source gave the impression that the paceman is very well placed.
Nehra's fitness has been a concern, but it's common knowledge that Dhoni likes the Delhi paceman. His death bowling, too, is a big plus and the selectors may just decide to go with him. "Fitness has been a bit of an issue with our pacemen for a while...Let's see, how it goes. It will be a toss-up between Sreesanth and Nehra," the source added.
However, keeping the fitness issues in mind, if the selectors decide to go in with a fifth pacer, Sreesanth may come in as the 15th member at the expense of an extra wicketkeeper or the back-up batsman.
The top-seven of the Indian batting-order ---Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni --- select themselves and by the look of it, Yusuf Pathan, is going to take the all-rounder's berth. For a while Ravindra Jadeja was in contention, but his poor form with the bat has gone against the Saurashtra all-rounder in recent times.
There's no doubt about Harbhajan Singh and it's going to be interesting to see whether the selectors go with Ashwin or Chawla as the second spinner. At least two of the selectors are extremely impressed with Ashwin's performances of late, but skipper Dhoni is bound to put in a word for Chawla. "England and South Africa are in our group and the skipper feels they don't play spin too well. But can Chawla lead an Indian spin-attack in case Harbhajan is unfit for a game, that is a big question," the source said.
Ashwin has been "very impressive in all formats of the game" and he is bound to find backers in the meeting. Sections of the selection committee hopes that "Dhoni, too, will fall in line because he has seen how effective Ashwin can be while leading Chennai Super Kings".
"But at the end of the day, this is going to be a tough call. A few things do go haywire in the meeting like this," the source said.
A section of the selection committee feels that there's no point going in with two keepers for a tournament that is going to be played in the subcontinent. "In case of a freak injury to Dhoni on the day of the match, either Rohit or Kohli can be used as a back-up. And if the injury is serious, we can always look for a replacement," the source added.
If Parthiv doesn't make the cut, Rohit may find his way into the squad. He has scored a whopping 732 runs for Mumbai this season with an average of 122 and he has shown in South Africa that he can be a handful with the ball as well.
Come Monday afternoon, and one will know whether Rohit's dream of playing the World Cup in India will be fulfilled.
Likely Squad: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, R. Ashwin (Piyush Chawla), Ashish Nehra (S Sreesanth), Rohit Sharma (Parthiv Patel).
Note: Sreesanth may come in if selectors decide to sacrifice extra wicketkeeper or back-up batsman.
Read more: Three spots up for grabs in Indian World Cup squad - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/icc-world-cup-2011/top-stories/Three-spots-up-for-grabs-in-Indian-World-Cup-squad/articleshow/7298175.cms#ixzz1BHIgqFxk
The fourth pacer, second spinner, and 15th member, these are the three areas that the selectors are set to look into in the course of the meeting.
While Ashish Nehra and S. Sreesanth are fighting for the third pacer's slot, Ravinchandran Ashwin and Piyush Chawla will cross swords for the second spinner's berth. Will the selectors go for Parthiv Patel as the second wicketkeeper or will it be the all-round abilities of Rohit Sharma that will help him clinch the 15th member's slot?
That will also be high on the agenda of the selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Narendra Hirwani and Surendra Bhave---who will be in Chennai for the meeting. Yashpal Sharma and Raja Venkat will join in from Cape Town via teleconference with MS Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten, also being part of the process.
Till Saturday, there was some doubt about Munaf Patel's berth in the squad, but his match winning spell of 4-29 against South Africa in Johannesburg has made him a frontrunner for the third seamer's slot in the squad. There is no doubt about Zaheer Khan while Praveen Kumar, despite an injury he suffered in South Africa, is likely to be fit. Now that Munaf has made an impact in South Africa, it will be difficult for the selectors to leave him out. "Munaf has done well in South Africa and that's a very good sign," a selection committee source gave the impression that the paceman is very well placed.
Nehra's fitness has been a concern, but it's common knowledge that Dhoni likes the Delhi paceman. His death bowling, too, is a big plus and the selectors may just decide to go with him. "Fitness has been a bit of an issue with our pacemen for a while...Let's see, how it goes. It will be a toss-up between Sreesanth and Nehra," the source added.
However, keeping the fitness issues in mind, if the selectors decide to go in with a fifth pacer, Sreesanth may come in as the 15th member at the expense of an extra wicketkeeper or the back-up batsman.
The top-seven of the Indian batting-order ---Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni --- select themselves and by the look of it, Yusuf Pathan, is going to take the all-rounder's berth. For a while Ravindra Jadeja was in contention, but his poor form with the bat has gone against the Saurashtra all-rounder in recent times.
There's no doubt about Harbhajan Singh and it's going to be interesting to see whether the selectors go with Ashwin or Chawla as the second spinner. At least two of the selectors are extremely impressed with Ashwin's performances of late, but skipper Dhoni is bound to put in a word for Chawla. "England and South Africa are in our group and the skipper feels they don't play spin too well. But can Chawla lead an Indian spin-attack in case Harbhajan is unfit for a game, that is a big question," the source said.
Ashwin has been "very impressive in all formats of the game" and he is bound to find backers in the meeting. Sections of the selection committee hopes that "Dhoni, too, will fall in line because he has seen how effective Ashwin can be while leading Chennai Super Kings".
"But at the end of the day, this is going to be a tough call. A few things do go haywire in the meeting like this," the source said.
A section of the selection committee feels that there's no point going in with two keepers for a tournament that is going to be played in the subcontinent. "In case of a freak injury to Dhoni on the day of the match, either Rohit or Kohli can be used as a back-up. And if the injury is serious, we can always look for a replacement," the source added.
If Parthiv doesn't make the cut, Rohit may find his way into the squad. He has scored a whopping 732 runs for Mumbai this season with an average of 122 and he has shown in South Africa that he can be a handful with the ball as well.
Come Monday afternoon, and one will know whether Rohit's dream of playing the World Cup in India will be fulfilled.
Likely Squad: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, R. Ashwin (Piyush Chawla), Ashish Nehra (S Sreesanth), Rohit Sharma (Parthiv Patel).
Note: Sreesanth may come in if selectors decide to sacrifice extra wicketkeeper or back-up batsman.
Read more: Three spots up for grabs in Indian World Cup squad - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/icc-world-cup-2011/top-stories/Three-spots-up-for-grabs-in-Indian-World-Cup-squad/articleshow/7298175.cms#ixzz1BHIgqFxk
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