A Mere Facade

After what must have been no more than a facade of a meeting, the selectorscame out with a World Cup combination they had clearly decided upon a longwhile earlier.

Although the team selected for the mega event has no real surprises, I feelspinner Ramesh Powar is a little unfortunate to miss out on a berth.

Should Pawar have been included in the context of the reported nature ofpitches in the West Indies -- much the same as those in the subcontinent. Couldthen, a batsman be left out to make way for Powar?

There must have been the worry of injuries to some players, but as there arestill over three weeks to go before the tournament commences, it must have beendeemed as enough time for muscles to mend and full fitness to be restored.

As at least three of those on the injured list were medium pacers, it wouldhave appeared prudent to take along five of this ilk in case of a recurrence ofold injuries or apprehended breakdowns which are not uncommon in a crampedcontest of such intensity.

However, reassuringly, Munaf Patel appears to have regained most of hisfitness and form and he clearly will be the spearhead of our pace attack.Support will come from Ajit Agarkar, who fortunately, has become less profligate thanhe used to be and Irfan Pathan, who, hopefully will recapture his God-givenability to swing the new ball, a device with which he used to demolish many aninternational side.

Zaheer Khan is now a re-invented entity -- the rythm is back and so is hisstriking power. Young Sreesanth is a gamble. His aggression is infectious andcan only be good for the team.

Sreesanth's waywardness with the new ball needs to be curbed, but he mustnot be told to get robotic. They are free spirits, somewhat wild and their raretalent should be let loose on the opposition in its raw form. Moulding them, andexpecting them to follow accepted specifics could indeed be counter-productive.

Is the inclusion of five pacers a luxury we could have done without?(particularly with Sourav Ganguly also chipping in if required). May be not in view oftheir proneness to injury.

Presuming that Robin Uthappa will open with Ganguly (though personally, I wouldhave Sachin Tendulkar partner him) and then have Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar,Virender Sehwag, YuvrajSingh and Mahendra Dhoni as specialist batsmen. Then there are the all-rounders Pathan andAgarkar. A formidable line-up by any standards. Could we then have done withoutDinesh Kaarthick, who has been selected as a pure batsman.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the selectors' minds were already made up ofincluding Sehwag, the much abused cliche that class will eventually tell beingthe bedrock of their decision.

Indeed, Sehwag is a match-winner on his day and a more than useful off-spinner to boot. But pray, why, when his form was under scrutiny in theRajkot match, was he not required to bowl a single over? And he failed with thebat. His inclusion was pre-decided. And, to my mind, justifiable.

In short, the selectors had decided on the squad much before they sat downfor the meeting and were taking a calculated risk with those who currently wereon the injured list.

Certain players might feel a little aggrieved, like Gautam Gambhir forinstance, but fate plays funny tricks sometimes. When you are given a chance,you have to grab it or else you miss the boat.

With Mohammed Kaif and Suresh Raina's omission, the team has lost vitalfielding cogs (particularly in areas within the circle) and it is up to thecaptain to plug the gaps.

Overall fielding, not conceding unnecessary extras, and purposeful runningbetween wickets are are to be particularly needed if the team is to make a markand cross the semi-final barrier.

PTI