By IANS,
New Delhi : India’s new cricket coach Duncan Fletcher will have the first taste of the national selection process when he sits down with the selectors in Chennai Friday to pick the squad for the tour of West Indies.
India will play three Test matches, five ODIs and a Twenty20 match in the Caribbean in June-July.
The selectors will have plenty of options if the Indian board decides to rest some of the seniors, though officially the stand is that all players are available for selection.
Quite a few names could come up for discussion but not for their performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) alone as some of the names bandied about have also done exceedingly well in the last domestic season.
If Subramaniam Badrinath, Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwari have all performed well with the bat in the Ranji trophy, Rahul Sharma and Iqbal Abdullah are seen as the new breed of spinners who have the potential to go far, more so in the shorter versions of the game. They all can legitimately look forward to finding a place in the squad.
Badrinath and Rohit should rightfully get into the team as replacement for injured Virender Sehwag, who will not go on the tour as he is undergoing surgery on his troublesome shoulder, and Sachin Tendulkar, who might be rested for the one-dayers.
Tamil Nadu batsman Badrinath was the top scorer in the Ranji Trophy with 922 runs followed by Rohit in second place with 732 runs. Badrinath, playing for defending champions Chennai Super Kings, continued his run-scoring spree in the IPL as well and has amassed 294 runs from 11 matches at an average of 71.
If Sachin Tendulkar thinks highly of Hyderabadi Rayudu’s batting potential, legendary Shane Warne was effusive in his praise of Rohit who he thinks can be one of India’s best batsman ever.
Warne was taken in by Rohit’s batting touch and felt the Mumbai batsman has it in him to be a great batting potential provided he gets his attitude and mind right.
Rayudu has been consistent with Mumbai Indians and Sachin Tendulkar thinks very highly of his batting. Rayudu is the sixth highest scorer, behind fifth-placed Tendulkar, in the IPL with 362 runs from 11 matches. Rayudu’s wicketkeeping skills will give him the edge over other contenders.
“I am a big fan of Rayudu. Both Rayudu and Rohit have been consistent. Rayudu did brilliantly last year and has continued with it this year. Rayudu knows the important phase is coming up now and he will be up for it,” said Tendulkar.
Rayudu, however, may face some tough competition from Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary, who has done well for Kolkata Knight Riders this season. Tiwari also had a good domestic season, scoring 525 runs from seven matches at an average of 75. In the IPL, Tiwary, who has 277 runs from 11 matches, struck some quick 30s and 40s that proved crucial for the Knight Riders’s brilliant run this season.
Tiwary doesn’t want to think too much about the India call and wants to concentrate on the job at hand.
“I know I had a good run this season. But I am not thinking about selection, which is not in my hand. For the time being, I want to concentrate on IPL… after all, we have a great chance to win the title for the first time,” he said.
All-round performance may see Kolkata Knight Riders’ Iqbal Abdulla replacing Yusuf Pathan. Abdulla, who plays for Mumbai, is joint fourth in the IPL bowler’s list with 13 wickets from 11 matches. He has also performed well with the bat for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy scoring 382 runs from eight matches.
Among the bowlers, there will be strong competition. With Ashish Nehra out with an injury and Zaheer Khan most likely to be rested, Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma should return to the side.
Ishant, who last played an ODI in August, registered the third best bowling figures in the IPL against Kochi Tuskers with his five for 12 and may get a chance to cement his place in the ODI squad.
The tall Punjab leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, who plays for Pune Warriors, could replace Piyush Chawla. Though his team fared poorly in their debut season, Rahul was the outstanding bowler for Pune Warriors and he is the third highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets from 11 matches.
Fixtures:
T20: West Indies v India at Port of Spain – June 4
1st ODI: West Indies v India at Port of Spain – June 6
2nd ODI: West Indies v India at Port of Spain – June 8
3rd ODI: West Indies v India at North Sound – June 11
4th ODI: West Indies v India at North Sound – June 13
5th ODI: West Indies v India at Kingston – June 16
1st Test: West Indies v India at Kingston – June 20-24
2nd Test: West Indies v India at Bridgetown – June 28-July 2
3rd Test: West Indies v India at Roseau – July 6-10