Mithun, Saha dropped; Kaarthick returns
In a knee-jerk reaction, India’s selectors left out uncapped pace bowlers Abhimanyu Mithun and Sudeep Tyagi, as well as wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha from the 15-man squad for the second Test against South Africa beginning at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
Recalled are left-handed batsman Suresh Raina for the first time in three and a half years, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Kaarthick – one game after he was dropped for the first Test – and a fit-again S Sreesanth, who had returned home from Bangladesh last month with a hamstring injury.
While Tyagi travelled with the Test team to Bangladesh without playing a game before being dumped, Karnataka paceman Mithun was omitted after just one Test as part of the squad. Saha was made a scapegoat of sorts after being a last-minute inclusion in the playing eleven once VVS Laxman’s replacement Rohit Sharma pulled up lame with a twisted ankle on the morning of the Test. Bengal lad Saha made zero and 36 in the match which India lost by an innings and six runs.
There appears greater balance in the squad compared to the first Test when there was no reserve batsman in the original 15, and it is more or less certain now that Laxman will play in Kolkata after having completely recovered from the webbing injury to his left hand.
The squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Dinesh Kaarthick, Suresh Raina.
