By Indian Cricket Fever
October 31 2013

The selectors picked a well-balanced squad for the upcoming two Test series against West Indies. The only surprise was the non-inclusion of Zaheer Khan.

However there could be a couple of reasons for Zaheer's absence.  Since this is a Test series at home, it may be less important to have a full strength pace bowling unit, and Umesh Yadav who has not played for a while may need some work under his belt to get ready for South Africa.  Zakky on the other hand is a seasoned campaigner and as Captain of Mumbai, he can use the next few Ranji matches to get to peak fitness and form in preparation for the all important South African tour.

Anyway, this should be an excellent contest, as the West Indians have said they will not cut Sachin Tendulkar any slack even though this is his grand farewell and final act in a legendary career that spanned nearly a quarter century.

Here is the squad as announced by the BCCI:

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Ajinkya Rahane, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma.

Rahane and Rohit In Squad For Windies Tests

Discussion started by Indian Cricket Fever (IP Logged), 31/10/2013 18:31

Indian Cricket Fever
31/10/2013 18:31

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:11:12:19:42:46 by Birbal.

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Meet_New_Mr_India
31/10/2013 17:07

No Zaheer, Jadeja rested due to shoulder strain... Mishra, Shami and Rohit included.. Raina duly dropped.. Ishant Sharma is retained.. not sure what he has done to be retained.. Selectors want Zaheer to spend more time at domestic level and if he doesn't break down he is sure to picked for SA..

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Ajinkya Rahane, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma.

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Max
31/10/2013 17:55

Jadeja's absence means there can only be 4 specialist bowlers in the XI. Also I would have liked to see Zaheer in at least 1 Test, before picking him for SA.

India - World Cup winners 2011!!!
Champions Trophy winners 2013!!!
Congrats to Indian team and all Indian fans!

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Birbal
31/10/2013 18:36

Apparently Jadeja has a shoulder injury...and they are preserving him for the SA tour...

Zakky's non-inclusion could be blessing in disguise...He can bowl himself into top form in Ranji games..and be rested and ready for South Africa

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shilpa
31/10/2013 20:06

Quote:

Birbal
Apparently Jadeja has a shoulder injury...and they are preserving him for the SA tour...
Zakky's non-inclusion could be blessing in disguise...He can bowl himself into top form in Ranji games..and be rested and ready for South Africa

Zaheer's non inclusion is drectly linked with Jadeja's injury...who if fit gives 5 frontline bowlers.....and then India could have afford top play Zaheer as one of 5 bowlers.

Zaheer as one of 4 bowlers which is likely to be the case now.....is too risky

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Birbal
31/10/2013 20:41

So who are the 4 bowlers going to be?

Ashwin, Ohja are certainties... the other two would have to be pacers as India does not have a pace bowling all-rounder...

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Birbal
31/10/2013 20:45

So likely to be Bhuvi and Ishant...

So Umesh, Amit Mishra and Shami Ahmed are just going to warm the bench...

If they can pick a 12 in advance they should release the others to play Ranji...

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Meet_New_Mr_India
31/10/2013 20:56

First game is in Kolkata so picking up Shami/Umesh.. would be a wise move ahead of Ishant..

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Birbal
31/10/2013 21:04

Here are Ishant's figures the past TWO YEARS.... WTF is he still doing in the squad?

2011 ENG v IND 173.3 33 640 11 0 0 4/59 58.18 94.64 3.69
2011-2012 IND v WIN 109 24 337 5 0 0 2/95 67.40 130.80 3.09
2011-2012 AUS v IND 125.3 15 451 5 0 0 2/43 90.20 150.60 3.59
2012-2013 IND v ENG 72 20 169 4 0 0 3/49 42.25 108.00 2.35
2012-2013 IND v AUS 97 23 265 7 0 0 3/72 37.86 83.14 2.73

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shilpa
31/10/2013 22:18

ishant will not play

Yadav is ceratin......2nd seamer will be Bhuvnesh
I would have preferred Shami.

Jadeja will be missed as India's most successful spinner lately

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Birbal
02/11/2013 17:48

Will Rohit's Banglore double century mean he gets a spot in the XI to replace Raina?

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Birbal
02/11/2013 21:55

Likely XI for first Test in Batting order

Dhawan
Vijay
Pujara
Kohli
Tendulkar
Rohit
Dhoni
Ashwin
Bhuvi
Mishra
Yadav or Shami



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:11:02:21:56:30 by Birbal.

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amit
03/11/2013 04:27

selecting ishant & dropping zaheer being a big mistake

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Max
04/11/2013 10:23

My XI for first Test would be:

Dhawan
Vijay
Pujara
Tendulkar
Kohli
Dhoni
Ashwin
Bhuvi
Ojha
Umesh
Shami

On most Indian pitches, 5 batsmen plus Dhoni, Ash and Bhuv should be able to post more than enough runs.

India - World Cup winners 2011!!!
Champions Trophy winners 2013!!!
Congrats to Indian team and all Indian fans!

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shilpa
04/11/2013 12:13

Rahane is the incumbent holder of the mddle order berh and by the principles of consistency in selection should hold on to this place...until he fails.

Those looking at Rohit's double should also look at the scores of 66 n.o and 111 from Faulkner.......an otehrwsie averaging 20-something batsmen

it's like faulkner get's selected as No.6 batsman of Australia in Ashes T1

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Birbal
05/11/2013 22:53

Dhoni reflects the same dilema as the article...

Who to replace Jadeja... Mishra? Rahane? or Rohit? pure bowler, pure batsman, batsman who bowls a bit...

My bet is he will go with Rohit...by splitting the baby...

A batsman who spins it a bit...

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Birbal
06/11/2013 18:54

Rohit it is...

And pleasantly surprised to see Shami getting a debut as well...

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