The Indian squad for the 3 match Test series against Sri Lanka has been announced. There are no surprises in store with leg spinner Amit Mishra making a comeback in place of the ineffective Karn Sharma, much as expected.
Mishra is 32 years old and last played in a Test match 4 years ago. His career has been one of missed opportunities. But he played well in the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy season for his home state of Haryana, taking 10 wickets at an average of 20.40.
India’s chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil said, “Amit Mishra has always been part of our thinking. If you remember, even last year he was in the reserves [for the West Indies series]. The final authority of picking the XI is the role of the captain and the team management. Why A was not played and why B was picked it is not what we get into. Looking at the conditions, we have picked him for this SL tour.”
Pace bowler Mohammad Shami has been suffering from an injury and hence was not considered for selection. Opener KL Rahul missed the Test in Bangladesh because of a severe case of dengue fever and to his bad luck, Shikhar Dhawan, his replacement, made a big hundred in the game. This means he is likely to miss out from actually playing in the series although he is a part of the squad. India has three openers to choose from- Rahul, Dhawan and M Vijay, but only Shikhar and Vijay are likely to play.
The Indian selectors had a tough job finding a suitable replacement for former Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has retired from Test cricket. Their choice has been to give an extended run to Wriddhiman Saha, the only wicketkeeper selected in the team. The Indian selectors are so confident with Saha that they have decided against picking a second keeper.
Sandeep Patil said, “We have a standby wicketkeeper we have nominated. Secretary and selectors, we are aware who is the wicketkeeper nominated if there is injury on the SL tour. “Does he have the technique or not, time will tell.”
Patil added that replacing Dhoni was perhaps the toughest thing one could ask of any newcomer in Indian cricket: “We have backed him looking at his performance in domestic cricket. The kind of experience he carries. You immediately cannot replace someone like Dhoni and come in and deliver the results. But we certainly feel that Wriddhiman is the right option and looking at his ability in batting as well, he should strike a good balance.”
The rest of the squad picks itself. Besides Captain Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, who are certain to start, there is just one spot in the middle order up for grabs, which should be decided between Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara, who has unfortunately fallen out of favor with the team management.
The fast bowlers pick themselves – Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma are set to play, which would make it India’s quickest attack so far. Ashwin is certain to start, so the final spot in the playing eleven will be decided between Amit Mishra and the veteran Harbhajan Singh.
Here’s the Full Squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Varun Aaron, R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Rohit Sharma, M Vijay, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul
