That the selectors chose to rest all the regulars, barring skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, for the limited-overs series in Zimbabwe did not come as a surprise.
But the outcome of Monday’s selection meeting, which also announced the squad for the four-Test series to be played in the West Indies in July-August, signalled that the end is near for the international careers of Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra.
All the three veterans had been recalled during India’s build-up of the World Twenty20 and were integral part of India’s squad for the marquee event in March.
Nehra was unavailable for selection, since the hamstring injury he suffered during the ongoing Indian Premier League requires a surgery to be healed. Harbhajan and Yuvraj have been omitted from the second-string squad to Zimbabwe for three ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals.
The fact that all three had been recalled only for the T20 season and India is not scheduled to play a T20 the whole of next year after the Zimbabwe series, means that it could be curtains on the international career of the triumvirate.
Playing it safeChief selector Sandeep Patil played safe. “The selectors have no right to tell any player when to retire,” Patil said during a media interaction at the BCCI headquarters.
“The selectors have the right to pick the players, looking at their form, performance and fitness. We selected the players (Harbhajan and Yuvraj) looking at them for the T20 World Cup, now we are looking at the future of Indian cricket but that doesn’t mean that these names will not be considered. They will have to perform and we will be very happy if they perform and get back into the Indian side.”
Besides the troika, the selectors have also omitted Hardik Pandya and Pawan Negi, who seem to have fizzled out as the T20 season progressed. Instead, the selectors have preferred to include Punjab batsman Mandeep Singh and Haryana leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for the first time in India’s squad.
While Mandeep has been a consistent run-getter in domestic cricket and for India-A, Chahal has emerged as the highest wicket-taker in the IPL.
Opener M. Vijay missed out on a plane to Zimbabwe since he has been made unavailable for the tour of Zimbabwe, following a niggle he suffered during the IPL.
Kohli restedTest captain Virat Kohli, who has continued to sizzle during the IPL despite having seven stitches on his left hand, has been sidelined from the Zimbabwe tour due to the injury.
“Kohli, though he is playing in the IPL, needs complete rest after the IPL tournament,” Patil said.
“We go by the fitness report submitted by Patrick Farhart, who is the physio of the Indian team. He has sent us this report prior to the selection. The report which we have got from Patrick Farhart says that he needs rest after IPL, for his injury.” The selectors picked Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur for the first time for the four-Test series in the Caribbean islands. Barring Shardul, who comes in for Varun Aaron, the 17-member squad had little surprises.
Considering that it’s a long series, the selectors have chosen five pace bowlers and three spinners, with all-rounder Stuart Binny as the back-up option.
