The Hindu : Sport : Nod for a `more economical' R.P. Singh

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 04, 2006

Sport

Sport

Nod for a `more economical' R.P. Singh

Special Correspondent

OOPS! THERE IT GOES: Sreesanth not only fails in the balancing act with the water bottle but also in convincing the selectors with R.P. Singh being the beneficiary. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

OOPS! THERE IT GOES: Sreesanth not only fails in the balancing act with the water bottle but also in convincing the selectors with R.P. Singh being the beneficiary. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Mumbai: The National selectors preferred left-arm seamer Rudra Pratap Singh over right-arm seamer S. Sreesanth after consultation with skipper Rahul Dravid and coach Greg Chappell for the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 tournament to be played in India from October 7 to November 5.

R.P. Singh's economy rate of 4.93 in 15 matches tilted the balance in his favour.

Sreesanth's (economy rate 5.72 in 18 matches) inconsistency in the one-day internationals counted against him.

In the absence of any competitive cricket played in the Unitech Series in Sri Lanka, the selectors retained the same 15 for the DLF Cup Tri-series to be played in Kuala Lumpur from September 12 to 24, but trimmed the squad to 14, dropping Sreesanth for the ICC Champions Trophy.

The ICC events — World Cup and Champions Trophy — permit teams to pick only 14 members.

"Should players suffer injuries during the event, an ICC Technical Committee will consider individual cases and allow for replacements,'' said Niranjan Shah, Secretary, BCCI.

Two-hour meeting

In the course of the two-hour meeting at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) here on Sunday the selectors, Dravid and Chappell spent much time interacting on the benefits of running fitness and skills based camps in Bangalore.

The chairman of selectors Kiran More said, "Chappell and Dravid were asked lot of questions by the selectors about the nature of camps the team has gone through from before the tri-series in Sri Lanka.''

"It's an advantage to have a left arm seamer, and the committee was informed that R. P. Singh bowled exceptionally well for India `A' in Australia recently.

"Anyway it's a question of only four of five matches and there's lot of cricket to be played after the Champions Trophy. Sreesanth has come off well in Test match cricket, but he is a little expensive in one-day internationals,'' said More.

Fear of break down

Fear of Anil Kumble breaking down during the Champions Trophy weighed in the minds of the selectors and hence the leg spinner was not included in the team. "`According to the team physio John Gloster, Anil could be fit for the Champions Trophy, but the consensus was to give him more time for rest and rehabilitation to recover from the shoulder injury. India needs a fit Kumble for the tour of South Africa and the tournaments thereafter,'' said More.

Before the selectors got down to business, Dravid unveiled the DLF Cup at the Cooch Behar Room. "We sponsored the event in Abu Dhabi and now the tournament in Kuala Lumpur. We are here to support to cricket,'' said Mr. Rajiv Talwar, Executive Director, DLF Ltd.

The team:

For DLF Cup: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohd. Kaif, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Mongia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel, S. Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh.

For ICC Champions Trophy: Rahul Dravid (Captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohd. Kaif, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Mongia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport