The selector’s dilemma when selecting the squads for this tour was shifted to the minds of the team management on the eve of the first test match of a two test series against Bangladesh beginning in Chittagong on Friday. And since this is a long season for the Indian team, one can only hope that sanity prevails during the selection of the final eleven and they make a winning start.

It isn’t exactly a problem of plenty for India at the moment. Actually, it is the exact opposite. The team is currently short of openers, has an excess of middle order batsmen who aren’t in the best of form, no all-rounders, lack of support in the spin department for Anil Kumble and pace bowlers, who have been smashed to all parts of the ground by the Bangladeshi batsmen in recent times. So, out of the fifteen players available to them from all the above categories, Rahul Dravid and Ravi Shastri have to select the best eleven and make sure that India proves to the world that the ODI success of Bangladesh was just a flash in the pan. That they are still minnows when it comes to tests.

Let us consider the various equations that could determine the final eleven. We start at the top of the order, the openers. For decades this opening riddle has been a problem for India and yet after trying umpteen number of combinations, here we are, still unaware as to who is going to be Wasim Jaffer’s partner. The selectors had drafted Dinesh Karthik as the opener, based on his strong performance against South Africa and if he is playing, it means that Dhoni will have to sit out. But the wicket keeper batsman showed some semblance of form in the preceding ODIs, winning the ‘Man-of-the-series’ award, which makes him an automatic selection for the test. Surely, India can’t afford the luxury of two wicket-keepers in the team. So will Dhoni open? If no, will Dravid? As it stands with only one regular opener in the team, this mystery will only be solved just before the match.

Which brings us to the middle order. The captain comes in at number 3 and of course, Sachin at no.4. But the rest of the two remaining slots in the middle order will see either one or two out of VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh miss out. In any case Yuvraj is certain to sit out, since he last played a test a long time back, and his recent stints in the middle aren’t too encouraging either. The interesting scenario occurs if India decides to go in with five specialist bowlers given the hot and humid conditions, as it might become difficult to take 20 wickets on a flat surface. If this happens, will VVS play? Or will Dada? Ganguly isn’t in the good books of the management (read Dravid) and might just miss out. What, however, will go in his favor is the fact that he hasn’t really missed an opportunity to score runs ever since his return, so in that case, Laxman will warm the bench too, again without his fault and with a lot of bad luck. Unless of course India decides to take in four bowlers only, then we won’t even have to consider this situation as both will get the nod.

Things can only get complicated from here, if one was looking for some respite. India has to take the pitch and the weather conditions into consideration as a lot of players pulled up hamstrings in the ODIs. If not, only four bowlers should play. But the visitors can’t even imagine drawing the test. Thus, keeping in mind the target of 20 wickets, the Indians should go in with five bowlers. Draft in the two young spinners alongside Kumble and let Zaheer and Munaf handle the pace department. Then definitely, either Karthik will have to keep wickets or Dhoni will have to open. At times like these, one misses Irfan Pathan.

With absolutely no surprise, Bangladesh have their playing eleven already decided. They have set targets in mind and go in the test match with rejuvenated spirits on the back of some recent scintillating performances. They have nothing to lose, everything to gain. A drawn test match is as good as a victory, a drawn series as good as a series win. For India, nothing less than 2-0 will do.

Image Credit: Mavenarts

Via: Cricinfo