Team India Test captain Anil Kumble and selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar during the meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday. (PTI)

Calcutta: Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision to skip the three-Test series in Sri Lanka and Yuvraj Singh’s exclusion are being talked about more, but no less significant has been the selectors’ move to give the vice-captaincy back to Virender Sehwag.

The same selection committee, headed by Dilip Vengsarkar, had removed Sehwag (a stand-in Test captain) from the No.2 position after the disastrous ODI series in South Africa some 18 months ago.

The beneficiary then had been V.V.S.Laxman, who was made Rahul Dravid’s deputy for the three-Test series there. Later, even Laxman was removed and the job went to Sachin Tendulkar. The musical chairs with the vice-captaincy continued with Dhoni (the ODI and Twenty20 captain) being appointed Anil Kumble’s deputy.

That was last November.

The present selection committee (Venkatapathi Raju, Bhupinder Singh, Sanjay Jagdale and Ranjib Biswal are Vengsarkar’s colleagues) may not pick the next Test squad — for the home series against Australia — but an “option” for the Test captaincy it seems has been created.

So far, it was assumed that Dhoni would eventually get to lead in all forms.

“Everything points to Kumble remaining the captain for as long as he plays... If Sehwag is consistent and the feedback is that he’s ready for the top job, then he could be an option to succeed him... Right now, then, I wouldn’t say his appointment today (Tuesday) should be seen as a stop-gap measure only,” one of the selectors told The Telegraph from Mumbai.

At the very least, that’s an interesting comment and a remarkable change in the Sehwag-script. At the start of the year, for example, he wasn’t even in the Test XI.

For the record, Sehwag has averaged 73-plus since his Test comeback at the Waca in mid-January. The runs include a superb 151 at the Adelaide Oval and a career-best 319 at the Chepauk against South Africa, two months after that hundred.

Moreover, Sehwag has been consistent in ODIs too — an average in excess of 41 (which is great in limited overs cricket) since making a return in the home series against Pakistan last November.

Talking of Dhoni, while he has been honest about the fatigue-factor, there’s no denying that the much-hailed Indian Premier League (IPL) has actually claimed him as its victim.

Dhoni’s no fool to miss out on the mega bucks, but it’s unfortunate that the IPL has contributed (not that it will be publicly acknowledged) to his being more than just tired mentally and physically.

With the 2008-09 calendar being as tight, and with nobody going to miss the IPL, there’s every chance that more cricketers will opt out of national duty on account of fatigue.

The Board, which is promoting the IPL, needs to introspect. It’s another matter whether that will actually be done.

Meanwhile, Yuvraj, Wasim Jaffer and Irfan Pathan have been dropped wholly because of form.

Nobody will dispute that Yuvraj was a failure in the two Tests that he played in Australia last season, but it’s also a fact that he’s always on trial in the sport’s longest version.

So much so that last week, in Karachi, Yuvraj told this Reporter: “Getting just one or two Tests at a time has made me insecure... Irrespective of the format, every player needs to feel secure... Otherwise, he won’t be able to give off his best... Security in the mind is a critical element.”

Over a period of almost eight years (ODI debut was in the October 2000 ICC Knockout meet in Nairobi) as an international cricketer, Yuvraj has only played 23 Tests.

The 24th won’t come in a hurry.

Footnote: There could be awkward moments in the Team India dressing room if Yuvraj is retained as the No.2 in the five ODIs which follow the Tests. Sehwag, after all, will also be in that squad...