Sehwag in 14-member squad

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, NOV 28. The National selection committee made some sweeping changes to give the seam attack a new look as it picked the side for the first Test against England at Mohali.

Included in the team was Virender Sehwag, much against the wishes of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Kerala medium-fast bowler Tinu Yohannan, Maharashtra seamer Iqbal Siddiqui and Railways all-rounder Sanjay Bangar have been picked in the national team even as the focus centred around the inclusion of Sehwag, who, according to the ICC is yet to serve the one-Test ban handed out by Mike Denness.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) insists his inclusion was based on the fact that the last Test against South Africa was official. The Selection committee chairman, Mr. Chandu Borde, and the BCCI Secretary, Mr. Niranjan Shah, were pounded with questions on the Sehwag issue and they handled the situation quite admirably.

Mr. Borde stuck to his stand that Sehwag was included on ``merit and nothing else,'' even as Mr Shah gave the English scribes apt replies.

Mr. Borde and Mr. Shah made it clear that there was no directive from the BCCI on the Sehwag issue. When pressed on the subject, Mr. Borde told the audience that the selectors would decide on whether to include Sehwag in the final eleven on December 3 after seeing the pitch at Mohali.

Was there a racial tone to the issue of the Match Referee handing down such severe punishments to the Indian cricketers, asked one British scribe? ``We have never said it was racial. We maintain the Match Referee was inconsistent and biased,'' Mr. Shah asserted. The Board was not seeking any confrontation with the ICC and it was certainly unhappy with the tone of the ICC communication on the entire controversy, he said.

Mr. Borde, speaking on the changes in the seam department, said the selection committee noted that the performance of Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra was ``unsatisfactory'' in South Africa, even as he conceded the spinners, Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble, would be on trial even though he sympathised with the spinners saying they encountered pitches not conducive to their style.

On blooding Bangar, Siddiqui and Yohannan, Mr. Borde said, ``they have been performing in the domestic cricket and deserved a chance at the right opportunity. ``We are not always driven by the number of wickets that a bowler takes but we also look at the talent keeping the future in mind.''

Stating ``Sarandeep has bowled exceedingly well'' he also said that the selectors might look at the possibility of including a left-arm spinner only after watching the first Test.

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The team

Sourav Ganguly (Captain), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Connor Williams, Shiv Sundar Das, V.V.S. Laxman, Deep Dasgupta, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Sanjay Bangar, Tinu Yohannan, Iqbal Siddiqui and Sarandeep Singh.

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