The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Four new faces for Mumbai test

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Sunday, Oct 31, 2004

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Four new faces for Mumbai test

By Sanjay Rajan

A good opening...Gautam Gambhir. - Photo: N. Balaji

NAGPUR, OCT. 30. Fortunately for Indian cricket, the team selected for the final Test against Australia, beginning in Mumbai on November 3, was not the result of a knee-jerk reaction by the national selection committee following the loss of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, but a well thought out one.

Obviously, the committee, under the chairmanship of Kiran More, and in discussion with skipper Sourav Ganguly and coach John Wright, realised that chopping and changing indiscriminately was not the answer. That the series was lost by the third Test was one thing. The question that needs an answer is this. Was India well prepared for what was a grudge clash for Australia?

Gautam Gambhir, the left-handed opener from Delhi, Dheeraj Jadhav, the left-handed opener from Maharashtra, K. Dinesh Kaarthick, the wicketkeeper-batsman from Tamil Nadu, and Shib Sankar Paul, a nippy medium-pacer from Bengal, are the four new faces in the squad. They replace openers Aakash Chopra and Yuvraj Singh, wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel and medium-pacer Ajit Agarkar.

The BCCI secretary, Mr S.K. Nair announced a 14-man squad, with Sourav Ganguly joining it as the 15th man, and captain, if he passes his fitness test in Mumbai on November 1. Mr. Nair said left-arm medium-pacer, Irfan Pathan, has not recovered completely from his side strain, which he suffered during the second Test in Chennai. However, Harbhajan Singh, who missed the third Test due to gastroenteritis, has been declared fit.

Possibly, the axing of Agarkar was the lone questionable decision in what was otherwise a fair team selection. The Mumbaikar contributed in all three departments — nippy with the ball, useful with the bat and athletic and keen on the field — in Nagpur. Delhi left-arm seamer, Ashish Nehra, who replaced Pathan for this Test, has been retained. Ganguly's immense faith in Nehra is rather well known.

Patel's nightmare

Parthiv Patel's nightmare behind the wicket in the series continued. After the second Test in Chennai, the selectors felt the young gloveman should be given another opportunity to redeem himself. Nagpur was to prove more disappointing for him.

But the young man from Ahmedabad should take comfort from the fact that he is only 19 years old. The left-hander batted impressively during the series. He scored 46 and 4 in Bangalore, 54 in Chennai and 20 and 32 in Nagpur. He handled the Australian attack quite comfortably.

Mr. Nair said the choice of wicketkeeper was between M.S. Dhoni and Kaarthick. The Tamil Nadu cricketer was in the squad for the NatWest Challenge and Champions Trophy. He played one ODI against England, where he stumped Michael Vaughan impressively. He is a positive batsman, who scored a century in the semifinal and final of the Ranji Trophy last season.

Mr. Nair said Gambhir was the first-choice opening batsman, ahead of Jadhav. The Delhi batsman opened for India in the one-day tri-series in Bangladesh in 2003 and has been a consistent performer in domestic competition and India-A series. Gambhir and Sehwag understand each other well, as they are state-mates.

Jadhav has also performed consistently in domestic and India-A competitions. The exit of Chopra and Yuvraj Singh put an end to an issue, which caused differences within the side and with it crisis in confidence in both the batsmen.

Actually, the side's disintegration began at the preparatory camp in Bangalore, prior to the Asia Cup in July. Ganguly pitched for Yuvraj as Sehwag's opening partner in Test cricket, even if it is obvious to all that the Punjab left-hander has limitations in technique against the new ball. The move did not do any good to Yuvraj. It also wrecked Chopra's confidence, as was evident during the series in which the Australians worked him out.

Mr. Nair said Paul was picked ahead of Mumbai pacers Avishkar Salvi and Munaf Patel. The secretary said the form of VV.S. Laxman was also discussed. "The selectors decided to give him another chance because of his past record," said Mr. Nair.

Regarding the Nagpur pitch, that was the subject of a national debate, Mr. Nair said, "The Board will investigate the matter and take corrective measures if needed."

The team: V. Sehwag, G. Gambhir, R. Dravid (vice-captain), S. Tendulkar, K.D. Kaarthick (wk), Md. Kaif, A. Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, M. Kartik, Zaheer Khan, A. Nehra, S.S. Paul, V.V.S. Laxman, D. Jadhav. S. Ganguly will join the team as captain if fit.

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