By IANS,
Mumbai: The national cricket selectors meeting here Friday will have a tough task on hand as they pick a 15-member Indian squad for the World Twenty20, beginning April 30 in West Indies.
A spate of injuries to the players in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) will be a matter of concern for the selectors. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, opener Gautam Gambhir and medium-pacer Ashish Nehra, all are nursing injuries.
Dhoni missed the last two IPL matches for Chennai Super Kings, which he leads, because of an elbow injury, but is said to have made a steady recovery. Gambhir strained his hamstring in Delhi Daredevils’ match against Mumbai Indians, while Nehra could not play a single IPL match due to a rib cage injury.
Both Nehra and Gambhir went to Sri Lanka for an ayurvedic treatment.
The selectors would like to avoid a repeat of last year’s situation when Virender Sehwag’s injury led to a controversy and the batsman had to come back home from the middle of the World Twenty20 championship in England. The defending champions India failed misreably and could not win a single match in Super Eights.
Besides injuries, indifferent form of batsmen Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina also is a worry for the selectors.
However,the performance of youngsters like Manish Pandey and R. Vinay Kumar, should see them in the squad.
After playing key roles in Karnataka’s final appearance in the Ranji Trophy, Pandey and Vinay in their outing for Royal Challengers Bangalore have shown they can be equally good in the Twenty20 format also.
Medium pacer Vinay Kumar has been the pick of bowlers in the IPL with eight wickets in five matches. Pandey, who came to limelight in the last IPL in South Africa scoring a sizzling century, the first by an Indian in IPL, has continued in the same vein this season too.
Also, Robin Uthappa has made a strong case for himslef, scoring 177 runs in six matches at an average of 44.25.
If the selectors choose to look outside the probables list, the names of young Saurabh Tiwary and veteran spinner Murali Kartik will certainly be discussed.
Tiwary has been the story of this IPL. The Jharkhand boy with strong resemblance to Dhoni, in looks as well as his batting style, has notched up two 50s in four matches.
Kartik, on the other hand, has by far been the best Indian spinner in IPL in terms of being economical. The left-armer has the third best economy rate of 5.57 per over, next only to stalwarts Anil Kumble (5.49) and Muttiah Muralitharan (5.50).
Harbhajan Singh’s four wickets in four matches have come at a rate of 7.14 while Amit Mishra’s five wickets in six matches have been a costly affair. Pragyan Ojha has lacked the sting.
Putting together the pace department can also be a teaser for the selectors. R.P. Singh, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan have been wayward and have gone for far too many runs. Ishant Sharma has been a shade better with six wickets in five IPL matches, but he has still not shown the temperament for the shorter version.
Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar, who is going through a good run being fourth in the IPL bowling charts with seven wickets in six matches, are certain to make the grade. Vinay is likely to take the third spot.
Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja fit the bills for the all-rounders with Sehwag, Yuvraj and Raina rolling their arms as part-timers. For the second wicket-keeper’s place Dinesh Karthik appears to be the best choice.