The Hindu : Sport : A dozen ODIs for Dhoni to start with

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Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007
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Sport

A dozen ODIs for Dhoni to start with

G. Viswanath

Captain for Tests to be named during the ODI series against Pakistan

— Photo: AFP

DELIGHTED: Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been made captain for the ODI series against Australia and Pakistan.

Mumbai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 26, has been named captain of the Indian team for the forthcoming one-day series against Australia and Pakistan, and a Twenty20 international against Australia.

“It took just five minutes for us to name Dhoni. He’s the best person for the job and he has the qualities. He’s been around for some time and he’s an explosive batsman,” said Dilip Vengsarkar, Chairman of the National selection committee at a press conference at the Cricket Centre here on Tuesday.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) contacted Dhoni at Durban and conveyed the good news to him. Vengsarkar said he spoke to Venkatapathy Raju (the selector from South Zone is in Durban) and also to Dhoni.

The selection committee, however, put off the appointment of the captain for India’s Test matches against Pakistan, Australia and South Africa to an unspecified date.

Vengsarkar clarified that no one has been offered the captaincy, and that his committee will appoint the skipper during the course of the ODI series against Pakistan.

“We did not touch upon this matter today at all. Let’s see what happens in the one-day series against Australia and Pakistan,” said Vengsarkar.

However, a BCCI official said: “Sachin (Tendulkar) has a very bright chance, but then it’s up to him. Personally, I have great regard for V.V.S. Laxman.”

Rotation policy

After consulting Dhoni, the selectors recalled Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh for the first three ODIs against Australia. “It’s going to be a long series and hence a few more players will get an opportunity from the fourth match against Australia.

“Virender Sehwag, too, will get a chance. We will be adhering to a rotation policy,” added Vengsarkar, hinting that the likes of Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid will be given a break from the hectic schedule.

“But I expect Dhoni to lead in all the 12 matches as he’s a young cricketer. He will not be burdened because he is also the wicket-keeper. He has all the qualities to be a good captain.

“Azharuddin had a team that had five captains. Dhoni will have only three and I am certain that Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid will rally around the new captain.”

Vengsarkar said that Harbhajan (likely to be the first choice spinner for the first three matches) and Pathan have looked good in recent times, and added that the Baroda left-hander provides an option as an all-rounder.

Touching upon the quality of opposition Dhoni will be facing, Vengsarkar emphasised the need to play well in the first three matches against Australia.

“The first three games at Bangalore, Kochi and Hyderabad will be very crucial. I expect India to field two spinners,” said the chairman of selectors.

Excellent captain

When asked about Dravid’s decision not to captain the side again, Vengsarkar said he respected the Karnataka batsman’s decision.

“I did not expect him to step down. He was an excellent captain. It’s possible he could not take the burden of captaincy anymore.”

The committee dropped Munaf Patel and Ajit Agarkar from the squad. “Munaf is a mystery, not history. He’s not match fit at the international level. He will have to improve his fitness.”

The team (for the first three ODIs): M.S. Dhoni (capt.), Yuvraj Singh (vice-capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Irfan Pathan, S. Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Ramesh Powar, Piyush Chawla and Gautam Gambhir.

The schedule:

India v Australia (ODIs): Sept. 29: Bangalore; Oct. 2: Kochi; Oct. 5: Hyderabad; Oct. 8: Chandigarh; Oct. 11: Baroda; Oct. 14: Nagpur; Oct. 17: Mumbai; Twenty20: Oct. 20: Mumbai (Cricket Club of India).

India v Pakistan (ODIs): Nov. 6: Guwahati; Nov. 9: Mohali; Nov. 12: Kanpur; Nov. 15: Gwalior; Nov. 18: Jaipur.

India ‘A’ team for three ODIs against South Africa ‘A’: Mohd. Kaif (capt.), Parthiv Patel (vice-capt.), Cheteshwar Pujara, Karan Goel, Manoj Tiwary, Suresh Raina, S. Badrinath, Praveen Kumar, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Yomahesh, Pankaj Singh, Arjun Yadav, Abhishek Nayar and Anirudha Srikkanth.

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