India’s tour of Bangladesh offers an opportunity for fringe players
MS Dhoni, the ODI skipper, and Virat Kohli, the Test captain, may be rested for the Bangladesh tour.
This is the first selection committee meeting in over four months and the selectors face a tricky choice of striking a balance between fringe players and stars when they sit down to pick the ODI and Test squad for the tour of Bangladesh. When the Sandeep Patil-led committee had met on January 6, it took them less than an hour to trim down a 30-member probables list to the final 15 for the World Cup.
They’re meeting after a long pause, in Mumbai on Wednesday, to pick the India squads for the one-off Test and three ODIs. Test captain Virat Kohli and ODI captain MS Dhoni preferably want to rest, citing fatigue.
The cricket board is likely to do a balancing act by selecting Kohli for the Test and sparing him the bother of playing the limited-overs matches. If Dhoni, too, is rested, there will be opportunities for a few fringe players to get in.
The BCCI sympathises with the cricketers, who are playing almost non-stop cricket. They had started the 2014-15 cycle with a home series against West Indies in October last year. Dwayne Bravo and company left mid-tour but Sri Lanka were invited to play a replacement series involving five ODIs. India left for Australia late November to play four Tests and an ODI tri-series. Close on its heels came the World Cup, which was followed by IPL 8. Over the last eight months, Kohli has played four Tests, 20 ODIs and 14 IPL matches. Dhoni has played two Tests, 15 ODIs and 14 IPL games. Dhoni has, however, retired from Tests.
“The cricketers have a logic. They’ve been playing non-stop and deserve rest. Then again, it’s an international series, which you want to win. Bangladesh had a very good series against Pakistan and we have to be on top of our game. Also, the broadcasters want some star players for TRP’s sake. We take everything into account before taking a decision. We’ve to strike a balance,” a top BCCI official said, speaking to The Indian Express.
Harbhajan may get a look in
Harbhajan Singh might be a beneficiary as he brings in experience as well as star-power. The squads for Bangladesh are likely to have three spinners and the 34-year-old offie could be one of them. Harbhajan has 413 wickets from 101 Tests and another 259 scalps from 229 ODIs, but he hasn’t played for India in the longer format since March 2013. His last ODI was even earlier, against West Indies in 2011. Harbhajan, however, has been bowling well in the ongoing IPL, taking 14 wickets from 13 matches at an economy rate of 7.87 — before the game on Tuesday. He didn’t have a good first-class season though, getting only six wickets from three matches in the Ranji Trophy. But he missed a big chunk of the tournament due to injury and illness.
Ravindra Jadeja missed the Test series in Australia due to a shoulder injury. He proved to be the team’s weak link in the World Cup. And not many young spinners are setting the stands on fire with their performance. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is considered to be a dark horse for the ODIs.Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami looks doubtful as he hasn’t fully recovered from a knee injury.
Source:: Indian Express
