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Calcutta: Bihar’s Mahender
Singh Dhoni, currently in Zimbabwe with the India A squad,
stands a good chance of making the Team India XIV/XV for
the tri-series in Holland and the two events in England:
The bilateral NatWest Challenge and the Champions Trophy.
While the ICC-conducted Champions
Trophy has provision for only XIV, the selectors — chairman
Syed Kirmani, Kirti Azad, Pranab Roy, Kiran More and Sanjay
Jagdale — may pick XV for the first two engagements when
they meet here on Thursday afternoon.
The August 21-28 tri-series has
world champions Australia and Pakistan as the other sides.
The NatWest Challenge, against England, features three matches
between September 1 and 5. As for the (second) Champions
Trophy, it’s going to be held from September 10-25.
According to The Telegraph’s
sources, Parthiv Patel will be dropped and, so, the
specialist wicketkeeper’s berth is going to be up for grabs.
“Frankly, Parthiv isn’t suited
for ODIs… We need somebody who can be effective with the
bat… The injury to (V.V.S) Laxman in the Asia Cup has been
an eye-opener… Parthiv had to step in, but couldn’t quite
do the job,” is how one of the sources put it on Wednesday
evening.
Dhoni is the frontrunner, specially
after his showing in the second first-class game in Zimbabwe
(versus the Select XI) where he had 11 victims — six coming
in the first innings.
Apparently, captain Sourav Ganguly
has indicated that the man in form (in Zimbabwe) will be
his choice.
Of course, Tamil Nadu’s Dinesh
Karthik (also in Zimbabwe) is very much in the frame. It’s
to be seen, though, whether fifties (96 and 52) in each
of the first two matches in Zimbabwe is going to be enough.
Dhoni, by the way, had a 45 in
that second game. He didn’t play the tour-opener.
While Parthiv is certain to go
out, there’s a question mark over Zaheer Khan’s fitness
and, as a result, his selection. He did pass a strenuous
‘test’ in Colombo, but not everybody is convinced he is
actually there one hundred per cent.
Should Kirmani and Co. decide
to rest him, the door will open for Ajit Agarkar, who is
turning out for Middlesex.
One understands there’s going
to be a “debate, at least” over retaining Mohammed Kaif
as his contribution in the Asia Cup was negligible.
Kaif totalled no more than 62
in five matches and, worse, ran himself out twice — against
Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in the tournament’s second phase.
However, right now, the selectors may not take the
extreme step.
| THE
EXPECTED LINE-UP |
Certainties: Sourav Ganguly,
Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh,
Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Irfan Pathan.
Strongly placed wicketkeeper: Mahender Singh Dhoni. In the frame, too,
is Dinesh Karthik
Could hold on: Mohammed Kaif.
Question mark: Zaheer Khan. If rested, Ajit Agarkar will benefit.
XVth player: Dinesh Mongia has emerged a strong contender. Also in the
reckoning are Hemang Badani and Rohan Gavaskar. |
The bigger debate, though, is bound to be over the
XVth player — assuming one is picked for the tri-series and the NatWest Challenge.
Besides the usual contenders —
Hemang Badani, Rohan Gavaskar and, to a lesser extent, Sridharan
Sriram — the selectors (as also Sourav and coach John Wright)
could actively consider recalling Dinesh Mongia.
Mongia has been out in the cold
after the April 2003 tri-series in Dhaka but, in recent
weeks, has been prolific for Lancashire.
“Look, runs on the County circuit
hold more value than scoring in Zimbabwe… Moreover, Mongia
has been in England for some time and acclimatising won’t
be a problem…” explained another source.
Incidentally, Mongia didn’t figure
in the pre-season list of 20 probables.
The rest, predictably, pick themselves.
Wright’s extension
Meanwhile, it’s learnt that extending
Wright’s (and physio Andrew Leipus’) contract “isn’t an
issue” for the Board. Leipus has been around from October
1999; Wright took charge in November 2000.
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