It was quite hard on him but we were left with no option.’’ That quote from one of the selectors — and the fact that it was given on condition of anonymity — will do little to assuage the frustration felt by Mohammed Kaif. And the fact that he has been named skipper of the Board President’s XI against Pakistan for the three-day match in Dharamshala will be seen as a token gesture by Kaif, who will believe that he deserved a place in the Indian squad for the First Test against Pakistan. The rest of 14-man squad selected itself, with Lakshmipathy Balaji and Ashish Nehra returning from injury to replace SS Paul and Gagandeep Singh. In simple terms, Kaif lost out to his middle-order partner Yuvraj Singh in the battle for the reserve batting spot. Though BCCI secretary SK Nair, who announced the team, admitted that it was a ‘‘tough decision’’ to pick Yuvraj — picked as a middle-order bat — over Kaif, he sought to put a historical spin to the decision. ‘‘Yuvraj’s record against Pakistan and his recent domestic success put him ahead.’’ While Kaif has led both the Uttar Pradesh and Central Zone sides to wins in the zonal one-dayers and Deodhar Trophy one-day competition, Yuvraj has had a better time in both the Deodhar and Duleep. Yuvraj’s only Test century came against Pakistan at Lahore a year ago; since then, he’s played just two more Test matches against Pakistan and Australia. In his most recent Test, against Australia at Chennai, Yuvraj opened the innings with Virender Sehwag but hardly looked the part. Kaif, by contrast, scored two crucial 50s (and a vital 25 in the low-scoring Mumbai Test) against Australia. What has probably helped Yuvraj’s cause is the support he has received in recent times from skipper Sourav Ganguly, the latest being a comment on Yuvraj getting ‘‘one more’’ chance. The dilemma over Yuvraj and Kaif seems to have benefited VVS Laxman, given another life by the selectors — in a decision that didn’t appear unanimous — because of ‘his record of scoring in difficult times’’. In fact Laxman has been on notice all season, one in which his form has been poor. he has little show barring a brilliant 69 in the final Test against Australia in Mumbai, and has also lost his one-day place. That Laxman’s selection was not unanimous came out in the way one selector explained Kaif’s utility as a fielder and as a batsman. ‘‘Laxman dropped catches in the recent Duleep game between West and South. Kaif is not only a collector of runs is also a brilliant fielder. So he is of more value,’’ the selector said. Not enough, apparently, to make the cut. FIRST TEST TEAM Sourav Ganguly (c), Rahul Dravid (v-c), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Kaarthick, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra, L Balaji, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh. MIDDLE DISORDER
