Sreesanth

London: India’s Twenty20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni declined to comment on whether he’d been consulted by the national selectors before the XV-strong squad got picked, but Dilip Vengsarkar let the cat out of the bag.

“I spoke to Dhoni last night... That interaction was to get his views,” the chief selector told The Telegraph on Tuesday afternoon.

Vengsarkar, in fact, had a chat with regular captain Rahul Dravid as well. That one-on-one was specific to the squad for the seven ODIs against England.

As Dravid’s views had already been taken into account, Vengsarkar and Team India physio John Gloster were the only ones to figure in the tele-conference from this end.

Asked what made the selectors elevate Dhoni (vice-captain in the ODIs), Vengsarkar answered: “He’s got captaincy qualities, is a good thinker and is in form...”

Predictably, he didn’t commit himself on whether the future holds bigger things for Dhoni.

Vengsarkar clarified that Sreesanth’s omission from the ODI squad shouldn’t be seen as a disciplinary move. “Absolutely not... Munaf Patel is back because he’s been doing well in the (non-official) domestic cricket at home... Sreesanth’s there for the Twenty20...

“I don’t think he (Sreesanth) is going to get affected in the build-up to the final Test... In my view, this (omission) should spur him on...”

According to Vengsarkar, Zaheer Khan has a “bruised” left heel and, once the ODIs are over, will need to rest for “three weeks.” That’s why he’s not in the Twenty20 squad.

The selectors brought back Irfan Pathan after Vengsarkar got a positive feedback from Chandrakant Pandit, the India A coach.

As for Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh, their “experience” helped. Like Irfan, they’re in the squad for the Twenty20 competition in South Africa.