Big Day tomorrow for Indian Cricket- Indian cricket team for 2007 World Cup would be selected tomorrow and Question is whether Virendra Shewag will be picked in the Squad.
The national cricket selectors face a big dilemma, on whether to pick an out-of-form VirenderSehwag, when they meet on Monday for the difficult task of choosing India's World Cup squad.
The match at the Madhavrao Scindia ground will help Dilip Vengsarkar's selection committee seal the last one or two or three berths in the Indian team
.But an Indian team without Sehwag, the highest scorer in the 2003 World Cup final against
Australia, looks unthinkable in spite of his poor form. He is a match winner, and his success on
the 2006 tour of the West Indies gives him an edge over his rivals in-form Uthappa and left-handed Gambhir, dropped for the first two matches.
Sehwag was dropped, or 'rested' as Vengsarkar says, for the recent four-match home ODI series against the West Indies, but was recalled for the first two matches against Mahela
Jayawardene-led Sri Lanka.
And to a much lesser extent, Gautam Gambhir, Ramesh Powar, Rudra Pratap Singh could be
said to be in the running, but only on the periphery. They could be called in emergency, unless
the selectors decide to surprise and pick them in the preferred 15 for the World Cup.
It would mean that captain Rahul Dravid, vice-captain Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag, Uthappa,
Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, wicketkeepers Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik, Ajit
Agarkar, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh pick themselves automatically.
And the Delhi dasher has the full backing of the team management, if the words of captain Rahul Dravid was anything to go by.
"We are not going to judge our World Cup team based on performance in just one or two games.
When you pick the World Cup squad you need to look at the combination you might play in the
West Indies, on the conditions there, the records of the players in the past," Dravid had said on
the eve of the second One-dayer at Rajkot.
That would apply to Irfan Pathan as well. The Baroda left-arm seamer has been in the spotlight
more for his poor bowling form.
Pathan was rested for a One-dayer and played in only one Test when India toured the West
Indies last year. He was sent home from the tour of South Africa with an advice to sort out the
problems in his bowling.
In case he is selected, Sehwag is likely to be played as middle-order batsman while former
captain Sourav Ganguly is expected to partner Robin Uthappa at the top. ICC deadline to submit the 15-man squad, trimmed from the list of 30 probables announced
last month, is February 13.
posted by Rishil Babu @ 6:39 AM,
