Sourav8230; to be continued

New selectors bank on experience, retain Ganguly for first two Tests against Australia; Badri in for Rohit

As the new selection committee arrived at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, the only question hovering over the Cricket Centre 8212; with lots of speculation thrown in the mix 8212; was about Sourav Ganguly8217;s future.

But interestingly, though the meeting lasted for more than two hours, Ganguly8217;s name was discussed for less than 10 minutes. The former India skipper, the subject of much disputation across India over the last few days, gave rise to neither a prolonged debate, nor any serious contradictions. As one of the selectors put it: 8220;It was a unanimous decision. There was no debate regarding Ganguly8217;s inclusion.8221;

The left-hander8217;s exclusion from the Irani Cup earlier was seen as a first step towards the exit of India8217;s so-called 8216;Fab Five8217; 8212; and a signal to players to bid adieu before selectors were forced to wield the the axe. Reports floated rampantly of the newly-elected BCCI president Shashank Manohar had had a word with senior players. A VRS scheme to ensure customised exits was talked of, and there were post-meeting speculations that a 8220;deal8221; had been made with Ganguly. But every BCCI official, selector and player spoken to after the meeting dismissed the reports outrightly.

Notwithstanding his Irani omission, Ganguly8217;s inclusion in the Test side didn8217;t really come as a surprise considering his record over the last two years. Barring the bad series in Sri Lanka, where he managed just 96 runs in six innings, Ganguly8217;s comeback to Indian cricket in late 2006 has seen him score 1571 runs at an average of 50.67. He was also named the best Asian Test player recently.

8220;You can8217;t leave out such an experienced player just because he has failed in one series,8221; said a selector. But with the squad picked for just two Tests against the Aussies, it will be interesting to see what happens if Ganguly fails to add big runs to his kitty.

Newest future star

Middle-order batsman S Badrinath was called into the squad in place of Rohit Sharma, who travelled for the last series to Sri Lanka but didn8217;t get a game. Projected as the future of Indian cricket just a couple of months ago, the 21-year-old Sharma has now made way for the 28-year-old Badri, perhaps rendering the age criterion unimportant and only taking form into consideration. Even Mohd Kaif couldn8217;t impress the new selection committee despite his consistent scores in domestic cricket.

Though it8217;s early days for this panel to jump to any conclusions, it did prompt some experts to suggest that Sharma is from Dilip Vengsarkar8217;s zone, while Badri from new chairman Srikkanth8217;s.

Reverse gear?

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The other surprise inclusion was leggie Amit Mishra 8212; the name that took up more time that any other during Wednesday8217;s meeting. While the earlier committee had stressed on youngsters being offered opportunities to be groomed for the future, Srikkanth 038; Co seem to have opted to go into reverse gear. The Haryana leggie was last seen in action in 2003 during the Bangladesh tri-series, and has been a regular in the India A side since.

The selection committee debated the 26-year-old Mishra8217;s picking over youngsters Piyush Chawla and Pragyan Ojha. 8220;Mishra made the cut because of his experience and also because is in good form,8221; said a selector.