Ind-Eng first test - Me as a selector.

Writing a blog means that I too can be a selector. So here are my thoughts about the selection issues and finally the team as I would select.

In my earlier post, I had written that Yuvraj being injured had made life a lot easier for the selectors and that Ganguly would play in the first test. The unpredictable selectors surprised everyone and gave a firm indication that this is the end for Ganguly. One of my thoughts is that they were actually nervous of the possibility that Ganguly, who after being dropped from the one day team has been batting extremely confidently and positively, may finally get a big score. Chappel and the selectors would then find it extremely difficult to justify dropping him.

Of the eleven places, the certainties - Sehwag, Jaffer, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Dhoni,Pathan,Harbhajan, Kumble take up 9 spots leaving 2 spots. These two spots can be filled in two ways -

1) Fill the two spots with two bowlers - a spinner and a fast bowler.

The selection of the third spinner is simple as Piyush Chawla is the only other spinner in the 16. I have heard that in addition to being a very good leg spinner, he is a good lower order batsman. Given the english batsmen's weakness in playing leg spin Chawla is a very attractive option. Only issue is if it is a bit too early to push him into the deep end. However since everyone expects Kumble and Harbhajan to do the job, it would reduce the pressure on the youngster.

The second fast bowler is a bit more difficult to pick. From what I have seen, Sreesunth will be a good pick. On the other hand, a case can be made for VRV Singh, reputedly the fastest fast bowler in India. I would pick VRV Singh very slightly ahead of Sreesunth just because of reputed pace.

2) Fill the two spots with a middle order batsman and a fast bowler.

The middle order batsman choice is a direct fight between Kaif and Raina. At this moment, with Kaif in poor form, I would pick Raina. The one innings of his that I saw, his 30 odd against Pakistan was superb reminding me of Ganguly in his glory days. He also has a very good defence and seemed more compact and safe than Ganguly.

The fast bowler would be VRV Singh as argued above.

I am ambivalent about which of the two options we should follow. I believe that with Dhoni at 6 and Pathan at 7, we can afford the luxury of 5 bowlers. With Chawla reputed to be a good lower order batsman, I believe we should go with the 5+1+5 option for the first test. Hence my team for the first test would be

1) Jaffer

2) Sehwag

3) Dravid

4) Tendulkar

5) Laxman

6) Dhoni

7) Pathan

8) Chawla

9) Harbhajan

10) Kumble

11) VRV Singh

Whatever the team, I believe that the Indian team should beat the English rather easily. But as the cliche says - Cricket is a funny game...