Seeking balance amidst imbalance……

The playing eleven for India’s first test against Bangladesh raised many eyebrows – VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh were dropped, Dinesh Karthik opened the batting, five bowlers were picked, and to add to the misery, Munaf Patel joined Sreesanth on the sidelines. If you really think about it though, this is the best possible squad that India might have picked.

The Bangladesh series involves back t0 back Tests, and in this oppressive weather, it makes sense to play 5 bowlers to share the bowling. Playing three seam bowlers is always a good idea, because it gives the captain more options to play with. With Munaf and Sreesanth on the sidelines already it made sense to play the extra bowler.

Coming to the batting – one has to start off by accepting the ground reality that the best batsmen in India are middle order batsmen. Had it not been necessary to pick opening batsmen, or batsmen for the specific task of opening the batting, Wasim Jaffer might not have made the Indian squad. The six top batsmen in India right now are Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Laxman and Sehwag. Of that there is little doubt, whatever their form at the international level suggests. Gambhir and co are not in the same class, and Jaffer is the best amongst that lot.

Dinesh Karthik queers the pitch a little bit. However he has been picked on potential and is being groomed as a specialist batsman. One of the things that is missed about selection is that it is individuals who are ultimately selected – not batting averages or batting techniques. The ones who get selected to play for India are as cricketers, a class above the average first class cricket – expert eyes can pick out something special, and the art of selection is about identifying someone special and then determining how best that talent can be roped in to contribute to the side. Dinesh Karthik is one such selection – he was a special cricketer, who unfortunately found himself competing and getting blown away by another exceptional talent – Dhoni, and then, instead of sulking, got cracking on improving his batting (which was promising enough to begin with – his hundred in a Ranji Final against Bombay and his 90 odd against Pakistan at Eden Gardens were memorable innings). The selectors have made a leap of faith and accepted that he be viewed as a batsman – and a possible Test opener at that. Tacit in this acceptance is the reality that India’s domestic cricket will never produce good quality opening batsmen because it is not designed to do so. The press and the public haven’t yet made that leap of faith. Rahul Dravid still has to clarify that Karthik has been picked as batsman, who can also keep if required.

All in all this is a good selection – given the inherent imbalance of the squad. There is definitely a glimpse of sanity in the selection of this playing eleven. A few questions are worth asking, and might be addressed in England –

1. If Dinesh Karthik can keep wicket, then would VVS or Yuvraj be better batting options than Dhoni?
2. Should Rahul Dravid bat at number 3 or should a more aggressive batsman (Yuvraj/VVS) take his place?
3. If Dinesh Karthik does the job as Test opener, should he also be asked to keep wickets?
4. Should India always go in with 5 bowlers?

and the last question – important because these are two special talents we are talking about –

What of Sehwag and Irfan Pathan?