The selection committee finally picked the squad for the triangular series in Srilanka which will mark the start of cricketing season for our players. After all the hooplah, Dravid was given the responsibility of leading the team.
The team was picked on expected lines barring the omission of Dinesh Mongia. Poor lad was once again ignored by the 5 wise men. 2-3 years back he was failing to make the cut because of some indifferent performances in whatever chances he got and now when he is doing all correct things in english county, our selectors dropped him in favour of youngsters (Dinesh is 28).
Dada will be travelling with the team as the 16th man.
The silverlining in the team was the selection of two young turks namely Suresh Raina from UP and Y Venugopal Rao from AP. There is a whiff of fresh air with the inclusion of young blood in the team.These two youngsters deservedly got the reward after a series of consistent performances in the domestic circuit. Another youngster who is waiting in the wings is Delhi's Shikhar Dhawan.
Suresh Raina is all of 18 but he has played some gutsy and matured innings in domestic matches. Coming from a state which is not known for producing cricketers ( Suresh is only the 6th player representing the country from UP), he has already come a long way. Venugopal Rao is another batsman who literally forced his selection in the team with some big knocks. He performed consistently in the last season too. What more, they both can bowl a bit too!
Now that they have got the chance ( hope they will get the chance to be in playing 11), its up to them to rise up to the occassion and grab the chance with both hands. Infact sharing the dressing room with the likes of Dravid, Saurav and Sehwag is a coaching in itself.
With all the youngsters in the team and without Sachin and probably Saurav, Greg has his task cut out. This will be the tour on th basis of which he will be rated. This is a new beginning for the team after tasting all the success under John Wright.
Hope they will comeout with flying colours...
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