Saha pips Rayudu as selectors play it safe

Wriddhiman second choice wicket-keeper to Parthiv Patel; Gautam Gambhir captain for West Indies ODIs as MS Dhoni rested.

Harbhajan Singh considers Ambati Rayudu good enough to play in the middle-order in Tests when Rahul Dravid or VVS Laxman decide to hang up their boots,while it is clear that Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar is impressed with the 25-year-old,who also keeps wickets. But the selectors,unmoved by his IPL form decided against blooding him in the ODI and T20 squad.

When the selectors advised MS Dhoni to rest for the ODI series in the West Indies it opened up two slots main and reserve wicket keepers. Parthiv Patel got the main role while the supporting act was handed to Bengals Wriddhiman Saha.

Rayudu has scored 362 runs in 11 IPL games so far and made 566 from nine Ranji Trophy matches last season. S Badrinath,the top scorer last season,and Rohit Sharma,who follows him on the run-makers list,took the two spots available after the Sachin Tendulkar was rested and Virender Sehwag out for at least six weeks owing to a shoulder injury.

Sahas superior glove work,compared to Rayudus makeshift abilities tipped the scales in his favour.

Saha was in the team for the first three matches in the home ODI series against New Zealand last year. And he did nothing wrong to go out of favour. We also brought Parthiv Patel back into the Indian team during that series and after that he travelled to South Africa. Parthiv will provide an opening option, a selector told The Indian Express.

Rayudu will have to carry forward his form into first-class cricket. Any cricketer who aspires to play for the country will have to be consistent in domestic cricket, he added.

That the selectors didnt read too much into the IPL performance was clear.

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Gautam Gambhir,as reported,will lead the side in the one-dayers in Dhonis absence. This will be Gambhirs second shot at leading the country after guiding India to a 5-0 win over New Zealand. He will be the full-time vice-captain once Dhoni returns to the team.

Four more changes were made to the World Cup-winning squad as Zaheer Khan was rested,Ashish Nehra was ruled out due to his finger injury and Piyush Chawla and Sreesanth were dropped.

Fit-again Praveen Kumar replaced Zaheer and Ishant Sharma has been brought back into the ODI team to provide pace upfront. Medium-pacer R Vinay Kumar made a return,while leg-spinner Amit Mishra who was the selectors choice,edged past Pragyan Ojha,Ravindra Jadeja and Rahul Kumar for the third spinners slot.

Team: Gautam Gambhir captain,Suresh Raina vice-captain,Parthiv Patel,Virat Kohli,Yuvraj Singh,Yusuf Pathan,S Badrinath,Rohit Sharma,Harbhajan Singh,Praveen Kumar,Munaf Patel,Ishant Sharma,Amit Mishra,R Ashwin,R Vinay Kumar,Wriddhiman Saha . For ODIs and one-off T20