MUMBAI: Until Tuesday evening, the national selection committee was still undecided on
Sachin Tendulkar for the 15-member
Asia
Cup squad. That changed only when a communication took place between
the selectors and the cricketer himself and the latter informed them
that he was 'available'.
By Wednesday morning, it became clear
that Tendulkar would be retained and so would the rest of the squad
with the exception of
Virender Sehwag
and Zaheer Khan. The committee's meeting went on longer than usual -
approximately two and half hours - because of a lengthy discussion on
Virender Sehwag.
In-form pacer Ashok Dinda was brought in for
Zaheer Khan,
who needs a break after a long tour of Australia, and the aggressive
Yusuf Pathan was picked ahead of Mumbai opener Ajinkya Rahane to replace
Sehwag.
Pace bowler
Umesh Yadav was also given rest after the selection committee received advice on the same from the team physio.
The only other player who was on the verge of being dropped but will continue to be part of the
Asia Cup squad
is Suresh Raina. His partnership with Kohli on Tuesday, which saw the
latter score a stunning hundred, changed the selectors' view. Chairman
of selectors K Srikkanth categorically said on Wednesday that "nobody
has been dropped."
Srikkanth admitted that India's victory against
Sri Lanka
at Hobart did change a few perspectives. The team bouncing back from
the bottom to keep their hopes alive in the tri-series meant that this
was the time to give the embattled cricketers another opportunity.
"We have selected the best possible team after taking into account the
fitness reports. We also had a good talk with the team management," he
added.
Rahane was discussed along with other names but Pathan
was given the nod to add meat to the middleorder . As for Dinda, the
right-arm medium pacer has been in good form in the domestic circuit and
is the best possible choice available among the pacers in the fray.
Post the Asia Cup, India will not be playing an international series
until June. Therefore, selectors are of the view that wholesale changes
need not be made at this point of time.
Team for Asia Cup
Retained: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir,
Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin,
Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma and Irfan Pathan
In: Yusuf Pathan, Ashok Dinda (Fine domestic form brings the two players back into national reckoning)
Out: Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav,
Parthiv Patel