The Indian Squad for Aus.

The squad for the Australian tour has been chosen at long last. I can't say I'm overly pleased with one selection.

Virender Sehwag. He hasn't been performing, be it at the international stage or the domestic stage. So exactly what did he do to deserve a recall to the squad against the world no. 1, Australia? After reading an article on Cricinfo, one reason has dawned on me.

Statistics.

Yes, that's the only thing I can think of. He was extremely good, and he dominated the Australian bowlers during India's last tour there- in 2003/2004. And APPARENTLY, the Australians still are afraid of him.

The few problems with that?

1. 2003/2004 was 4 years ago. An entire world cup cycle has taken place since then and honestly, what has Sehwag done in the last four years to prove himself worthy of the Indian cap? Almost nothing. He lost his form a couple of years ago and ever since then, he's been given opportunity after opportunity to prove his mettle and he's failed, over and over again, to show that he can be reliable in the time of need. And YET the selectors continue to give him opportunities. Rahul Dravid on the other hand, was dropped because he had one bad series. It never fails to amaze me, the way the Indian selectors work.

2. The Australians are STILL afraid of him? I think THAT is the most laughable claim I've ever heard. Australia, afraid? Do they fear ANYONE? Even if they did, once, since then they would have kept close tabs on the player and would, undoubtedly, by now know what his recent form has been and where exactly his weaknesses lie and how exactly to exploit them. Of course, the claim came from a former Australian player, he could be trying to throw the Indians off the right trail so Aus would win- but that's a bit far-fetched don't you think? And anyway, the Indian selectors have more brains than that- they wouldn't let random claims like that sway their selection (I sincerely hope I'm not overestimating them).

3. Statistics- load of tosh. As Navjote Sidhu once famously said (of course the original quote was from Aaron Levenstein, but Sindhu saying it with his hearty flourish is the most prominent memory in my mind), "Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital."
If the selectors have truly picked Sehwag because he ONCE played well against the Aussies... well, have they lived in 2007 recently? Because as far as I have seen, he hasn't performed very much for over a year now. How can they pick him on the basis of performances well before his form spiralled lower than low?
In that case, why not pick Javagal Srinath to bowl? Or Sunil Gavaskar to bat?

Fine fine, I know they are retired and and probably not fit enough to play, while Sehwag is still playing... but come on, surely we have other batting options? Gautam Gambhir is injured, fine. But what about Robin Uthappa? Rohit Sharma? They've performed better than Sehwag has, at least in ODIs in the RECENT past. Their fielding is also much better than Sehwag's and we could do with some good fielders against the Aussies. Because the Aussies don't run in the field, they fly.

About Pankaj Singh's selection- I can't say because I can't remember having watched him play. Otherwise, I suppose I'm fine with the team.

Of course, Sehwag may yet prove me wrong. :) And I'll only be too happy if he can clinch a victory for us there. And I'll take back everything I said about him. We'll wait and see, what is in store for us.

(On a sidenote- RP Singh is in YAY! I hope he gets to play!)

Otherwise, India drew the last test match, but only very closely! They almost won it, and would have if bad light hadn't stopped play. :) So the series is ours again. And Ganguly, as he deserved, got MoM and MoS. :D Good going Dada!