Sidhu back in Indian team for Windies tour

Prem Panicker

So the wait is over - Ramakanth Desai and the four other national selectors met on Wednesday February 19, at the Cricket Club of India premises in Bombay, and announced the following team for the tour of the West Indies: Sachin Tendulkar (captain), Anil Kumble (vice captain), Navjot Singh Sidhu, Ajay Jadeja, V V S Laxman, Saurav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, Robin Singh, Sunil Joshi, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Dodda Ganesh, Abey Kuruvilla, Nayan Mongia and Syed Saba Karim.

As picked, the composition is six batsmen, two all rounders, two spinners, two keepers and four bowlers in the fast to medium range.

Announcing the team, BCCI secretary Jagmohan Dalmiya said that Sachin Tendulkar had made a strong request that at least one more member be added to the touring party, in order to provide the tour management a greater scope for team selection for the various games. However, Dalmiya said, the request was turned down as the BCCI had permitted the Windies to bring only 16 when they last toured India, and therefore it was considered unfair to send the extra player.

Dalmiya on behalf of the selectors said that Sidhu had been selected because it was felt after the South African tour that the team needed a regular opener. Either VVS Laxman, who has produced a medical certificate testifying that he has fully recovered from the hairline fracture that cut short his South Africa tour, or Ajay Jadeja would be used as the second opener, depending on the form of the moment.

So where does that leave the team? Let us take the selectorial thinking as base. In that case, we come up with a batting lineup that reads: Navjot Singh Sidhu, VVS Laxman/Ajay Jadeja, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin, Nayan Mongia, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, and either Kuruvilla, Ganesh or Joshi.

Fair enough, on paper.

Cricket, though, is never played on paper - dream leagues run by various newspapers and on the Internet excepted.

So what is the performance potential of this side? Starting at the top, Navjot Singh Sidhu is coming off a long layoff - in fact, he last played in England. And a succession of injuries and ill health that has resulted in a domestic record that runs - played one, missed two, played one, missed three...

The opener, who has an average exceeding 40 in both Tests and one-dayers, will thus need to strike peak form straight off against bowlers of the calibre of Ambrose, Walsh and Bishop.

Partnering him is Laxman - a youngster just into his fourth Test. He has the technique to develop into a solid opener, if persisted with - but for now, his presence at the top of the order is experimental at best.

Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Azharuddin in the middle looks a very good combination indeed - and frankly, I would like to see Dravid coming ahead of Ganguly because if you reverse that order, you get the possibility of Ganguly and Sidhu batting together - and that makes for comedy, given that their calling and running between wickets is straight out of Keystone Kops.

There is one hidden problem with that middle order, though - presuming that India is actually looking to win a Test or two on this tour. If such aggressive intentions do exist, then it is obvious that India will have to go in with five specialist bowlers to attack the opposing batting lineup. So which of the middle order batsmen do we drop to accomodate that fifth bowler? An interesting conundrum, that, for Messers Tendulkar and Madan Lal to ponder over.

Srinath and Prasad look slated to shoulder the brunt of the bowling burden again - more so given the fact that though the West Indian pitches are not of the fastest, these days, there is no way India is going to find a spinning track laid out for Kumble and Joshi to run riot.

And that brings up another Achilles heel - Abey Kuruvilla. Sure, he has had a wonderful run recently in domestic cricket. But then, the last 12 months have seen David Johnson enter the Test arena riding a brilliant domestic record, and fail. Dodda Ganesh make the Test cut riding a similar record, and prove ineffective. Salil Ankola ditto. So now it is Kuruvilla's turn to see whether or no he can translate a good domestic record into international success. In other words, another experiment.

This might sound like carping criticism. But with all due respect, mention of these weaknesses is being made only with one purpose in mind. This Indian team is going on a tough, five-Test tour after a long, exhausting season that has seen it travel the world, playing a record number of one dayers and as many as 10 Tests. And we are now facing five more before downing tools for the duration - so how come key components of the side, such as openers and support bowlers, are still of the "experimental" variety?

It is this one fact that will need to be put right upfront before the team even leaves these shores - that the Indian squad is not yet a settled outfit. That it is still looking to man the most crucial slots in its composition. And that this task will need to be accomplished before the millions of fans can even begin to look for positive results.

Meanwhile, what of Desai? (Incidentally, a day before, the chairman of selectors accepted the recommendations of a few hundred Rediff readers regarding the team composition to the West Indies, but refused to answer questions on the grounds that he was hard-pressed for time). The chairman of selectors indicated, following the announcement of the team, that the selection committee had had a change of heart in the case of Sidhu, who had been disciplined after his walkout of the Indian team touring England in early 1996.

Interestingly, similar leniency does not appear to have been considered in the case of Vinod Kambli, who was put into cold storage following the Wills World Cup, again for disciplinary reasons, and who has now made a comeback to the state side with a run of large scores.

Admitting that there was a dearth of quality spinners, opening batsmen and good backup medium pacers, Desai said that this was the main reason for players like Ganesh and Kuruvilla having been given a second chance. Interestingly, Desai himself had, last year, shot down Kuruvilla's candidacy on the grounds that he was a very poor fielder, and also injury-prone.

Asked why the team did not have an off-spinner to counter the West Indian batting lineup which has an inordinate proportion of left-handers, Desai's reply was brusque: "Show me an off spinner capable of getting a left-hander out, and I will pick him," the chairman of selectors said.

Reverting to the subject of opening batsmen, Desai said that he saw no point in trying Bombay captain Sanjay Manjrekar in that slot. "He was given two chances and that is enough," said Desai, referring to Manjrekar's last minute entry into the side in the Titan Cup final in Bombay in November 1996, and then again in the team for the first Test versus South Africa at Ahmedabad.

And Wasim Jaffer? "He has been touted as a future prospect, but we were not willing to blood him on a tough tour," Desai responded.

Interestingly, the selection that has gained the most notice - and not a little uncomplimenatary press - is that of Kuruvilla. The medium pacer had been impressive when he debuted way back in the 1992-1993 domestic season, taking four wickets in the Ranji Trophy final of that year against Haryana under Kapil Dev. However, in the intervening years, his pace has fallen off quite a bit and today, he is at best a friendly medium pacer.

Desai, asked about his inclusion in the side, indicated that the need had been felt to provide backup to Srinath and Prasad on a tough, five-Test tour, and that since Ankola and Johnson had not been particularly impressive in their recent outings, a chance had been given to Kuruvilla.

An aside: earlier today, several former Test stars and fans took out a protest march, damning the exclusion from recent Indian sides of Bombay-based players such as Kuruvilla, Kambli, Manjrekar and Wasim Jaffar.

Six players have been dropped from the team that was originally picked for South Africa - Pankaj Dharmani, David Johnson, Salil Ankola, Venkatapathy Raju, Vikram Rathore and W V Raman.

Rathore and Raman, perhaps, can be considered to have been given their chances and failed to take advantage. Johnson too was singularly unimpressive during the tour games, and thus invited the axe. Raju? Same reasoning as Johnson. Meanwhile, what of Dharmani? When he was originally picked and a storm broke out over the fact that the team to South Africa had three wicket keepers, Desai justified the selection by claiming that Dharmani had been picked as a batsman. And when Laxman returned to India with a hairline fracture, Dharmani was retained in the side in place of the middle-order batsman. So on what yardstick has he been dropped, given that he never was really tried in the batting slots, in either Tests or ODIs?

Just a thought for you to ponder on at leisure.

Meanwhile, this Indian side will leave for the West Indies on February 25, and will play one warm up game before the Test series begins. The five Tests are scheduled as follows: March 6-10, first Test at Jamaica; March 14-18, second Test, Port of Spain; March 27-April 1, third Test at Bridgetown; April 4-8, fourth Test at Antigua and April 17-21, fifth Test at Georgetown.

A four-game one day series follows immediately thereafter, the schedule reading: April 26, first ODI at Port of Spain; April 27, second ODI at Port of Spain; April 30, third ODI at Kingstown and May 3, 4th ODI at Bridgetown.