This selection was just about the numbers

Anil Kumble has a peculiar problem. Among the batsmen he doesn8217;t know whom to drop and among the bowlers he doesn8217;t know whom to pick! We reap as we sow!

Anil Kumble has a peculiar problem. Among the batsmen he doesn8217;t know whom to drop and among the bowlers he doesn8217;t know whom to pick! We reap as we sow! If you glorify batsmen, you don8217;t produce bowlers. In the movies they want to become stars not extras. And so Kumble had to bowl seam-up in Bangalore. Great thinking, good variation, no option. If bowling seam-up and getting the ball to scuttle along on a low pitch was the way to win a Test, someone else should have been bowling those. If not at Kumble8217;s end, at the other. So does it mean that there is no one to hit the deck hard, at a decent pace, at around the good length mark? Someone simple and unassuming, with a simple run-up and a focused mind? And so, as Kumble has re-discovered, the problem with having a big heart is that everything comes your way. As, I suspect, Rahul Dravid is going to discover in Australia!

So then as Australia, the spiritual home of hit-the-deck bowling, looms what are India8217;s options going to be? Or is this a no-options selection? I8217;m trying to be optimistic here but I am struggling. Of the five areas selectors would typically look at; opening batting, middle order batting, wicket keeping, spin bowling and new-ball bowling notice I haven8217;t said quick bowling!, India seem to have options in two: middle order batting and wicket keeping. Of the two spinners, maybe three, realistically available, two were picked. But of the rest, it was a question of making the numbers, rather than sorting from them; of adding rather than deleting which is what a healthy selection situation should be.

The selectors had one opener and had to conjure three and whichever way you look at it, Sehwag8217;s selection is about desperation, not inspiration. The only contender was Aakash Chopra and the fact that he wasn8217;t picked confirms my old view that shortlists can rarely be read into. So that list of 24 was either a decoy for journalists or a boring academic exercise; the kind school boys would indulge in during a physics class when they don8217;t understand much of what is going on. A third opener should have been picked, but clearly there isn8217;t one in India. I hope Robin Uthappa is looking at this squad and hurting. Given the choices available he should have walked in, never has it been easier for an opener to make the Indian team, but he blew it with a string of ordinary performances for Karnataka. But the good news for him is that this is a shrinking market and selectors will have to pick from the tiny number that is available. If you are 18 and you are reading this, strap those pads on, walk out behind the fielders and take guard against the new ball.

And if you are 18, tall and strong, back yourself and bowl quick. And once you realize you can force people onto the back foot and have them hopping and fending, don8217;t cut your pace and stroll in. Realistically, India had two new ball bowlers to pick from, one of whom hasn8217;t played a game for a month and indeed, has played no more than a handful of Test matches. And it staggers me that there is a debate over whether or not to pick Munaf Patel. That in itself is symbolic of the absolute poverty that surrounds us. Munaf bowled very well in the West Indies, that was in 2006. Since then he has done little, he has bowled little and he has fielded little. And when the opportunity came to show commitment in Delhi at number eleven, with VVS Laxman fighting hard on 72 at the other end, he played the ugliest hoick I have seen. Off the first ball. He wasn8217;t bowled or caught at slip or out lbw while defending. He was trying to heave the ball out of the ground. A few more minutes and twenty more runs might have been scored and surely his ears should have been red after that for at least a week. And if we want to pick Munaf without giving him a year of domestic cricket to prove himself, this must be the closest equivalent to the gold rush. Forget the lifeless pitches guys, just run in and bowl fast and straight and pick the India cap that is waiting for you. What then, does that tell you about VRV Singh?

India can still be competitive in Australia. But for that to happen, the pedigreed batsmen will have to score a lot of runs and Kumble, at 37, will have to bowl a lot of overs. And the openers will have to bat well because once the Kookaburra ball loses its nip, conditions in Australia are excellent for batting. But who8217;s going to open the batting in the Tests? That8217;s another story!