Chennai, Jan. 28: Going purely on performance and talent, the national selectors have rewarded Tamil Nadu batsman S. Badrinath, Karnataka speedster Abhimanyu Mithun and Bengal’s wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha with berths in the squad for the first Test against South Africa beginning at Nagpur from February 6.
Barring the exclusion of Dinesh Karthik, the 15-member squad is mostly on expected lines. The selectors cannot be blamed for the axe as the Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper had not done full justice to the opportunities over the last few years.
“Dhoni had a few niggles during the tour of Bangladesh and had to miss the first Test. Even in the ODIs there were a few problems with his fitness, so we have included Saha as back up. If there is a problem with Dhoni on the morning of the match, Saha will step in as replacement,” said chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth.
Badrinath comes in place of Rahul Dravid but there is no direct replacement for Yuvraj Singh. V.V.S. Laxman, who injured his hand while going for a catch in the slips at Chittagong, has been deemed fit.
Srikkanth explained that there will be a reassessment of injuries after the first Test and an altered squad for the final Test could be named. “Dravid was keen to play but the doctors have advised him rest as a precautionary measure. We have selected the best possible team considering the number of injuries that the team is suffering at the moment,” he said.
On Mithun’s selection, Srikkanth said the medium pacer was rewarded for a productive first-class season. “He has done extremely well in the domestic season and we really needed a bowler of his kind for the Tests, so we have included him,” he said. Mithun took 47 wickets in the nine Ranji Trophy games at 23.23 in his debut season.
The squad has six specialist batsmen, and the selectors struck to the combination of three spinners and four medium pacers. “To upstage a team like South Africa, the bowlers will have to perform as a cohesive unit. In Indian conditions the batsmen will have a huge role to play but bowlers win Test matches and I am confident this line-up will be able to do a good job,” said Srikkanth.
Fielding has been a area of concern for the world’s top ranked Test side and Srikkanth agreed there is tremendous scope for improvement in that area. “We have got some ground to cover in that department. Catching has not been our strength but I am sure the boys are working hard on those aspects.”
The selectors also named the Board President’s squad, to play a two-day match against the South Africans in Nagpur on February 2-3. Rohit Sharma is the captain.
India squad for first Test: M.S. Dhoni (c), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, S. Badrinath, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay, Sudeep Tyagi, Abhimanyu Mithun, Wriddhiman Saha (wk)
Board President’s XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Abhinav Mukund, Parthiv Patel (wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Cheteshwar Pujara, Abhishek Nayar, Piyush Chawla, R. Ashwin, R. Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Shikhar Dhawan, Umesh Yadav, Manpreet Gony
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