Young guns to catch wise men’s fancy

After his hurricane 177 in England in an under-19 one-dayer, the young Hyderabadi even scored a 210 and 159 in his second Ranji match against Andhra to make his claims for an India cap even stronger and he is also an alert fielder to boot.

However, the focus is expected to be largely on picking a right bowling combination since it was this department which failed India quite miserably against the West Indies in a recent series.

This is why Salvi and Pathan —with their strong showing this season so far — have come into the picture. As National selector Pranob Roy told The Indian Express, ‘‘the core of 15-20 is ready.’’

‘‘There are quite a few claimants and most of them are performing very well,’’ added Roy. Bengal’s right arm fast medium Ranadeb Bose, with a 10-wicket haul against Himachal in an elite Ranji Trophy match, has emerged as a dark horse in the race. Skipper Saurav Ganguly is said to be impressed with the 23-year-old Kolkatan and that may prove handy for Bose.

One more player from the India under-19 stable — Vidharba’s Chandrashekar Atram, who made it a habit to ‘finish’ off matches against England in the recent series, is also in the running.

The young all-rounder has been in fine form for his state and has been contributing with both bat and ball. Sanjay Bangar will lead the pack of all-rounders along with Railways teammate JP Yadav and Reetinder Singh Sodhi. Spinners Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik and Sarandeep Singh though select themselves.

Bengal captain Rohan Gavaskar and Maharashtra’s Abhijit Kale may form part of the reserve batters in the list.

However, wicketkeepers Rahul Dravid, Parthiv Patel and Ajay Ratra will find no competition.

Meanwhile, Anil Kumble has declared himself ‘available’ for the Kiwi one-day series. The team for this series will see a three-way fight between VVS Laxman, Dinesh Mongia and Rayudu. From the present Test squad Shiv Sunder Das, Ajay Ratra, Murali Kartik are likely to come back after a ‘‘well earned’’ holiday.

Tinu Yohannan’s ‘‘fine showing’’ in the nets may well inspire the selectors to extend his stay in New Zealand at the expense of Ashish Nehra. Javagal Srinath’s status though is still not clear and the fourth seamer’s slot is still ‘‘wide open.’’