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Journalism of Courage
The selection committee today picked the team for the Sri Lankan tri-series with a two-pronged vision. By picking greenhorns Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao, the selectors have started work for the 2007 World Cup; and the inclusion of Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman shows they re keen to kick off the season with a win.
8216;8216;We must win matches; winning does wonders to a team. We must start the season with a win and for that you need your best available team. And Kumble is our best spinner,8217;8217; convener of selectors Kiran More told The Indian Express.
The slow nature of the Sri Lankan wickets will force the Indians to play two spinners, two seamers and the medium pacers of all-rounder JP Yadav. Add to that the spin options of Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina and the attack looks promising.
Laxman showed his class more than his form by scoring a century and 76 in the two practice games during the camp to force his way back into the one-day team.
Coach Greg Chappell believes, as did his predecessr, that the Indian batsmen don8217;t work enough on their singles and twos, instead playing to the galleries with fours and sixes. In the past couple of years, Laxman has bought into the theory, avoiding dot balls and working on picking the singles.
His 2004 form is probably the best of his one-day career and also the best among the other batsmen in this team for that season. Though Laxman doesn8217;t boast a great average in one-dayers played in Sri Lanka 26.5 from 12 innings his presence in the top three could lend solidity to a side without Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar.
Even Kumble does not boast a very promising record in Sri Lanka his 29 wickets in 33 games costing 42 runs a piece but, given his current form and ability to come up with performances, Kumble8217;s selection makes a lot of sense.
Harbhajan Singh will be the other spinner with Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, L Balaji, and Ashish Nehra making up the pace attack. The new faces carry much promise. Venugopal Rao also had scored 91 in the David Johnson benefit match, hitting Zaheer Khan for four boundaries on the way through.
Though he has a strike rate in the fifties in Ranji one-dayers last season, his selection is based on a terrific domestic season and the fact that he has regularly been forced to drop anchor for his weak team. Raina, UP8217;s middle order left-hander and off-spinner, impressed at the camp and in the practice games to edge out S Sriram, Dinesh Mongia and Hemang Badani.
According to the selectors, he is definitely the first choice in all the final elevens that will take the field.
JP Yadav is likely to fill in the all-rounder slot. The strong middle-order batsman can hit a meaty blow or two, and bowls military medium pace. 8216;8216;With my bowling, I know my limitations, so I am concentrating on bowling stump to stump, and not trying too much,8217;8217; he said. And that is how he got Sehwag trapped in front yesterday.
Virender Sehwag has been named the vice-captain, and is expected to open with MS Dhoni or Suresh Raina, in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.
Though it wouldn8217;t be a bad idea to have VVS Laxman or Yuvraj Singh up the order to create options for the team. Flexibility is a hallmark of champion sides.
Besides Raina and Venugopal Rao, the selectors were also impressed with Niraj Patel, Gautam Gambhir and Dhiraj Jadhav 8211; all of whom will doubtless be given chances later on in the season.
The leadership issue is one that is beyond the powers of the selection committee but for the team chosen, Kiran More and Messrs can take a bow.
