The selection committee met on Wednesday to select the squad for The
first two Tests against England.
The new committee had already shown glimpses of their surprise
selection in the New Zealand Series with an inclusion of Suresh Raina.
With star players like KL Rahul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shikhar Dhawan Injured, people were expecting some interesting call-ups.
Soon the squad was announced. Gautam Gambhir retained his place and the likes of Karun Nair,Jayant yadav also made it to the squad.
The news was also that Rohit Sharma is injured and will need 6-8 weeks to recover and thus will miss the whole series.
But the surprise element was, selectors pulling out Hardik Pandya
of the box.
of the box.
After that Twitter went wild trolling him and the selection Committee.
One may say that his inclusion in the Test team might be too soon.
With Rohit Sharma ruled out, people were of the view that a proper
batsman should have replaced him.
batsman should have replaced him.
With a double century, even Yuvraj Singh was knocking on the doors.
But the Committee went ahead with Pandya. If one might dig deeper,
the Committee was aware of England’s form against spinners.
the Committee was aware of England’s form against spinners.
Thus, captain Virat Kohli will surely think of the going with 3 spinners in the Team. But that would leave Place just for 1 fast bowler.
With Hardik Pandya, India gets the 2nd pacer and also a batsman
who can bat down the order and even score quick runs when needed.
With Hardik Pandya, India gets the 2nd pacer and also a batsman
who can bat down the order and even score quick runs when needed.
This inclusion in the playing 11 provides that stability if India goes
with 3 spinners. It remains to be seen if Hardik justifies the faith shown in him by selectors.
with 3 spinners. It remains to be seen if Hardik justifies the faith shown in him by selectors.