Question on Jadeja replacement

NEW DELHI, NOV 17: With serious doubts raised over Ajay Jadeja's recovery from shoulder injury in time for the first leg of the Australia...

NEW DELHI, NOV 17: With serious doubts raised over Ajay Jadeja8217;s recovery from shoulder injury in time for the first leg of the Australian cricket tour, the rumour mill is churning out a few names as his replacement.

Coach Kapil Dev, a fitness maniac during his playing days, said, 8220;I don8217;t want an injured man in the team, no matter who the player is. The exact nature of Jadeja8217;s injury is not known and the Board has agreed to our request to send him to South Africa, if need be, for specialist treatment. If the doctor there says he can recover after a week, then it is fine by us. Otherwise, we will seek a replacement.8221;

Jadeja will first meet Dr Anant Joshi in Mumbai and if the orthopaedic surgeon suggests further investigation, Jadeja will fly to South Africa tomorrow night. The deadline for him to get an all-clear certificate is November 21. The team flies to Australia the next day.

Jadeja8217;s injury is serious and, in all probability, he is unlikely to be fit for Australia. The question now is: Whowill replace him?

One theory doing the rounds is that it should be Nayan Mongia, though questions would be raised as to how a wicket-keeper can replace a specialist batsman. But so shoddy has been MSK Prasad8217;s work behind the wickets in the One-day series against New Zealand that banking solely on him on a demanding tour could turn out disastrous.

When one of the selectors was presented with this line of argument, the answer was: 8220;How can a wicket-keeper replace a batsman?8221; But knowing the way Indian officialdom has been functioning, anything is possible and here one sees no harm in admitting one8217;s misjudgment and rectifying the mistake. And, there is nothing unusual in two wicket-keepers accompanying the team.

The Jadeja mishap8217; is bound to reopen the Mohammed Azharuddin debate, and given the way a strong lobby 8212; both outside and inside the media 8212; are advocating the former captain8217;s case, the selectors could come under pressure to include him.

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It is a debate which the five selectors, captainSachin Tendulkar and coach Kapil have avoided so far. There are a combination of many factors which have kept Azharuddin out of the team: His form, attitude, advancing age and equation with Tendulkar.

His perceived indifference towards the interests of the team during Tendulkar8217;s first stint as captain had cost him his place in the team once before. Providence could provide one more chance for reassessing the whole equation once again. Did someone say Azharuddin has been a lucky man?