
Desperate measures were deployed after India lost rather embarrassingly to the South Africans in the first Test of the India South Africa series at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur.
The Indian selectors led by Krishnamachari Srikkanth brought about a few expected and a few unexpected changes for the second Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. It became quite apparent with the team announcement, coming as it did at the conclusion of the first Test that the defeat had raised the panic flag in the Indian camp.
Out come the axe and Wriddhiman Saha was given the boot, Dinesh Karthik brought back - why this order was changed and whether Saha is being axed because India needed a specialist batsman does not make sense because Saha is a better wicket keeper than Karthik. So, Karthik is required for a batsman role then, why not pick a specialist batsman?
Suresh Raina has been brought in as also Sreesanth and out go Sudeep Tyagi and Abhimanyu Mithun, two bowlers who did not even get a look in. How these changes are going to make an impact on a match just three days later remains to be seen. The selectors seem to have indulged in knee jerk reaction because Saha was playing when Mahendra Singh Dhoni was playing which means Saha did not even get a chance to prove his wicket keeping skills.
The reason Saha’s selection was criticized because India needed back up batsmen to cover the injuries of Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman and Yuvraj Singh. Now in trying to show some strength in the batting department, the bowlers are being left again vulnerable.
Indian team for the Kolkata Test against South Africa:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, V.V.S Laxman, Suresh Raina, Sreesanth, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Subramaniam Badrinath, Pragyan Ojha,
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