Indian Squad Selection for England Tour Has Concern in Virender Sehwag’s Fitness

Even as India are struggling to sustain interest in the second Test against the West Indies, affected intermittently by the rain, the Indian selectors will be gearing up for the important Indian cricket squad selection for the tour of England.

Virender Sehwag

While the Indian squad in the West Indies has not provided the star quality with the absence of several prominent names of Indian cricketers, the tour of England is expected to be much stiffer not only in contest but also, in terms of individual competition. It goes without saying then that this is the tour no Indian cricketer would want to miss out on.

The Indian selectors should have an easier time than they did when they picked India’s squad for the West Indies because the regular names will now make themselves available and therefore, ensure that the selectors have fewer headaches trying to fill in the unusual vacant spots.

The Indian tour of the West Indies has missed the likes of Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar in Test cricket. Given their absence, it would have been a huge opportunity for the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Sreesanth. However, while Sreesanth has had better luck with Test cricket than one day cricket although injury ruled him out, for Yuvraj Singh, this could have been the break he needed after losing his Test spot to Suresh Raina. However, a lung infection took care of that and now with the team at full strength, Yurvaj Singh may have to wait a while before the Indian selectors change their mind about the man who was the Player of the Tournament at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

Sachin Tendulkar will take his place after his much needed break. Zaheer Khan is expected to be fit enough to take his place as the leader of the fast bowling squad. Sreesanth has already declared himself ready, fit and raring to go. Unless Praveen Kumar has made a strong enough impression on the selectors, Sreesanth’s immediate future may not be in danger. Munaf Patel though continues to remain a question mark.

However, the Indian selectors may have a bigger problem in the opening department because while Gautam Gambhir appears to have recovered sufficiently, the same cannot be said for Virender Sehwag. The swashbuckling opener is reportedly not entirely fit yet and that could put India in a bit of a bother particularly with India playing the Test series against a team that is looking to steal the no.1 Test rank. That is because neither has Murali Vijay nor Abhinav Mukund made a case for themselves yet in the West Indies, and that could put a lot of pressure on the rest of the batting line which fortunately is expected to be at full strength otherwise.

The Indian selectors do not have too many tough decisions to make, but those that will have to make will eventually make a huge difference in terms of the team equations because this is not West Indies but rather England, who has won two Ashes back to back, that India will be facing.