Selectors confused? Probably

It8217;s usually the names that evoke surprise after selection committee meetings; today it was the numbers. For reasons not yet fully expl...

It8217;s usually the names that evoke surprise after selection committee meetings; today it was the numbers. For reasons not yet fully explained, the Indian Test selectors announced a team of 20 probables for Australia, then said the final 16-man squad would be chosen on Saturday, after the match against New Zealand.

BCCI secretary SK Nair, whose job it was to read out the statement in Bangalore, was not on hand to answer the questions that it raised:

8226;If the delay is to allow more time to judge the iffy players, how will the selectors assess Chopra, Dasgupta, Balaji, Badani, Ramesh, Pathan and Nehra, who are not in the squad for the Hyderabad ODI?
8226;And, since only eleven can feature in a match, how will they judge the three on the bench?
8226;And can a team for a Test in Australia be decided based on the performance in an ODI in India?

	THE PROBABLES

			Saurav Ganguly captain, Aakash Chopra, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Avishkar Salvi, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Anil Kumble, L Balaji, S Ramesh, Yuvraj Singh, Hemang Badani, Irfan Pathan Jr, Ashish Nehra, Deep Dasgupta.

The answers to these queries probably lie in the more than two hours of deliberations involving the selectors, captain Saurav Ganguly and coach John Wright. Nair8217;s statement offered few clues: 8216;8216;The selectors are dissatisfied with the team8217;s performance in the tri-series. They discussed various aspects but were generally not satisfied with the bowling and fielding.8217;8217;

Does that mean some big names are now under scrutiny? Obviously not, not even those in woeful form. Given the importance of this trip, the selectors will hide behind the necessity of having the most experienced players in the squad, never mind form.

So who8217;s likely to miss the cut? The wind seems to be blowing towards seven batsmen, five quicks, two spinners and two keepers.

Thirteen players pick themselves: Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Nehra, Zaheer, Laxman, Parthiv, Dasgupta, Harbhajan, Kumble, Agarkar, Chopra.

That leaves five players battling for three places:

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8226;Yuvraj Singh will probably have the edge over S Ramesh
8226; Two among Salvi, Pathan and Balaji will make it, the Baroda boy will probably not

It is unlikely, unless the Team India management has not so much a change of heart as a complete transplant, that Badani and Kartik will make the final team, though Kumble will be aware that his career is in its twilight.