The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : The `Turbanator' is back

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 08, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

The `Turbanator' is back

By Our Sports Reporter

CHENNAI, JULY 7. Sourav Ganguly's team was chasing the 300-odd runs made by Rahul Dravid's side in the practice match between the Asia Cup probables at the Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday when the Indian captain joined the National selectors who met at the TNCA president's office here.

Ganguly walked up and down the flight of stairs on three separate occasions — he obviously wanted to keep an eye on the game — along with coach John Wright.

The Asia Cup selection process certainly wouldn't have taken much time in the near three-hour meeting of the five selectors — Syed Kirmani (chairman), Kirti Azad, Kiran More, Pranob Roy and Sanjay Jagdale — considering that one didn't expect any radical changes with the team doing well.

It was the India `A' team selection — Mumbai's Sairaj Bahutule was named skipper — for the twin tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya which probably took a lion's share of the time at the meeting.

The selection committee stayed true to form — precisely what it is expecting Ganguly's men to do in the July 16-August 2 Asia Cup to be held in Sri Lanka. For the record, India is a four-time champion.

Leg-spinner Anil Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh are back in the one-day scheme of things. The former had missed the series in Pakistan as he was recovering from the shoulder injury sustained in Australia.

Harbhajan's finger injury had ruled him out for nearly six months, forcing him to miss most of the Australian series and the Pakistan tour completely. The `Turbanator' from Punjab, who did not want to talk about the injury, said he was thrilled to get back. "I'm happy to just be bowling again."

Agarkar, Kartik ignored

It will be a 14-member squad for the Asia Cup compared to the 15-man team in Pakistan. From the previous one-day series, lefthander Hemang Badani, off-spinner Ramesh Powar and left-arm spinner Murali Kartik have been dropped. Badani has been named vice-captain of the India `A' team which has Powar in the line-up.

Regarding Ajit Agarkar and Kartik not finding a place in either teams, BCCI secretary S.K. Nair, who convened the selection meeting, explained: "The selectors felt that both players were far too established to be going on `A' tours. They also believe that new players should be given opportunities on `A' tours."

Ganguly's team has four speedsters with Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra (both have recovered from injuries) joining the young pace duo of L. Balaji and Irfan Pathan who performed well in Pakistan. Vice-captain Rahul Dravid is likely to don the big gloves in this competition too, though young Parthiv Patel — carrying the tag of specialist — goes on the tour as cover for him.

Regarding security fears in view of the bomb blast in Colombo today, Nair said, "this is a matter of great concern for the Indian Board and we will not leave any stone unturned to provide our players maximum security."

Nair said the idea behind the two conditioning camps was to get the team into peak condition before the season. The BCCI secretary said that batting analyst Geoff Boycott's stint with the probables had evoked a positive response. "Ganguly described it as very useful," Nair said.

The camp concludes on Thursday. The team will leave for Colombo on July 13.

The India `A' team will play three four-day matches in Zimbabwe (July 22 to August 8), followed by a tri-series with Pakistan `A' and Kenya in Nairobi (Aug. 11 to Sept. 4). The India `A' boys will attend a preparatory camp in Bangalore from July 12 to 18.

The squads:

Indian team for Asia Cup: Sourav Ganguly (capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid (vice-capt.), Virender Sehwag, V. V. S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Md. Kaif, Parthiv Patel (wk), Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, L. Balaji and Ashish Nehra. Coach: John Wright.

India `A' team for twin tour of Zimbabwe & Kenya: Sairaj Bahutule (capt.), Akash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir, S. Sriram, Hemang Badani (vice-capt.), Rohan Gavaskar, Dinesh Kaarthick (wk), Amit Bhandari, Munaf Patel, Avishkar Salvi, M.S. Dhoni (wk), Ramesh Powar, Dhiraj Jadhav, S.S. Paul and Yogesh Golwalkar. Coach: Sandeep Patil.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport