Image by Dhammika Heenpella / Images of Sri Lanka via FlickrWhatever it might be, test cricket is definitely not his cup of tea, even when he is usually in good form. Now, with the series being played in Sri Lanka against the likes of Murali, Mendis and Herath, he will definitely be uncomfortable with the thought. Further, there is a doubt whether Yuvraj thinks of himself as a test player. Doubtful. Of course, if the selectors had not selected him, there would have been a furore but that fact should not have influenced the selection in anyway.
With the Fab-Three (Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman) in the middle-order and MSD at No.7, there is one slot available for selection.
What were the other choices available to the selectors? Suresh Raina is present in the squad. Murali Vijay is also available as a backup to the openers (he has also shown how comfortable he is at No.3). Looking forward, the selectors might have selected Badrinath in the squad in place of W.Saha (as they did in the ODI series, they could have gone without a reserve keeper and asked for one only when required).
Did the selectors fear that the selection of Karthik (as reserve keeper) or Badrinath (as reserve middle-order batsmen) will cause everyone to accuse selection committee head, Srikkanth, of bias towards his home state? Rohit Sharma could have been given a chance in the squad in place of Raina for he is definitely the better suited in terms of technique in the longer version.
In the bowling department, the first three selections in the spin department - Harbhajan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha - pick themselves. The new ball options is taken care by Zaheer, Sreesanth and Ishant. Yes, there is consistency in the attack from the previous test series but what have the latter two done in the meanwhile. Only IPL matches!!! Could they have not been sent to the A tour to England? What were the other choices then? Ashish Nehra - why not? The team does not seem to be inclined to choose Nehra for the longer version of the game. He would have been handful for the Lankans with his pace and bounce.
Anyway, the team leaves the shore this time with the best option to win a test series in Sri Lanka - hopefully the batsmen and bowlers fire together to bring the series win. All the Best, India.
