Sachin out, Rohan in, Mongia left in limbo

When it became clear this morning that Tendulkar was almost certainly returning home, this correspondent called up Dinesh Mongia. He was due to leave England next week after capping a memorable season with the English county Lancashire but said he’d received word of Tendulkar’s injury and was given reason by officials to believe he would be the replacement.

Team manager Gautam Das Gupta confirmed Tendulkar’s inability to participate in the team but told The Sunday Express that he had no clue who would replace him.

One national selector, when contacted, said on condition of anonymity that Mongia had been on standby; given Rohan Gavaskar’s disappointing outing in the NatWest matches so far, it was the logical thing to do, he said.

Mongia, for his part, was obviously over the moon. ‘‘I’d replaced Sachin once before and scored a century, so this should be a good omen’’, he said.

Two hours later came the news from Mumbai when BCCI joint secretary Ratnakar Shetty said that the selectors had decided that Rohan Gavaskar would stay back with the team and replace Tendulkar.

When Express contacted the same selector again, he said that following another teleconference amongst the selectors, it was unanimously decided to opt for Rohan Gavaskar.

The confusion created by the BCCI has caused heartache for Mongia, a fringe player desperate for that one last chance to prove he had the stomach for the big league.