Team announced for Tri series and Asia cup

[zubinpepsi]

Yusuf and Ojha get maiden call-ups Cricinfo staff May 30, 2008 Half-brothers Irfan and Yusuf Pathan are part of the squad for the tri-series and the Asia Cup in June © Getty Images Yusuf Pathan, a right-hand batsman, and Pragyan Ojha, a left-arm spinner, have been called up to the 15-member squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan next month. Dinesh Karthik and Munaf Patel, who played in the CB Series, failed to make the cut. The inclusion of Yusuf, who is the half-brother of Irfan Pathan, was on expected lines after his stand-out performances for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. He has scored 334 runs at 27.83 from 13 innings with three fifties, and recorded the fastest half-century of the Twenty20 tournament: off 21 balls against the Deccan Chargers. He also took five wickets at 41.60 with his offspin. Ojha was one of exceptions in an otherwise lacklustre performance by his team, Deccan, who lost 12 off their 14 matches. He took 11 wickets at 25.81, and his best figures were 2 for 18 in their IPL opener against the Kolkata Knight Riders. However Venkatapathy Raju, one of the national selectors, said IPL performances had not carried much weightage in picking the squad. "Our team did well in Australia and we kept in mind injuries to players in our selection", Raju told Cricinfo. "Murali Kartik was injured and he opted out so we were looking for another left-arm spinner and Ojha's advantage is his height. He was the selectors' choice and not a recommendation from the captain." Yusuf, meanwhile, was a unanimous choice, Raju said, based on his recent performances. Apart from the selectors, Dav Whatmore, the National Cricket Academy director, Gary Kirtsen, the coach, Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni attended the meeting. Ojha first came in to the limelight last August when he picked up 22 wickets in India A's tour of Kenya, including 9 for 85 in a three-day fixture that India won by an innings and 87 runs. In four List A games last season, Yusuf scored 92 for Baroda, while Ojha, picked up six wickets for Hyderabad. Their first-class record was better, with Yusuf getting 441 runs at 44.10 from seven Ranji games and Ojha topping Hyderabad's wickets list with 24 at 31.87 from six matches. Squad Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha. © Cricinfo ---------------- and Uthappam still ridiing his luck,,

[Zakhmi]

Yusuf and Ojha all the best! a hard-earned chance!! live and prove upto it!!! :congrats:

[abhinav]

what has Ojha done to deserve a chance ahead of Amit Mishra? :((

[gult]

what has Ojha done to deserve a chance ahead of Amit Mishra? :((

He bowls with left hand :giggle: Selectors wanted him because the left arm spinner Murali Karthik is injured. Amit Mishra should have gotten a chance ahead of Ojha.

[Guest HariSampath]

^ Just one small thing Ojha has done. Been performing in all India A games, and domestic one dayers. He was one of the best bowlers on view in the Ranji One day games as well as Deodhar trophy last 3-4 months

[zubinpepsi]

and what has Uthappam done... im ok with the team.. but only change Badri in for Uthappam.. I hope they dont play Uthappam in playing XI.. and I also hope that Sreesanthi is carted to all parts of the ground.. :D

[Guest HariSampath]

Badri should have been tried, I cant imagine what else he should do. Dhoni probably got a chance to push one player's selection and he pushed Raina. But Raina had done brilliantly well even in Challenger trophy before Aus tour and was unlucky to have missed out then, so he gets his chance now when he is in great form. Overall team is a good selection, guess Uthappa better do something now or he will be out soon.

[amits]

what is uthappa doing in the odi squad and y hasnt dhawan been selected. otherwise, not a bad team, but should have rested some players for the bangladesh tri-series & brought them for the asia cup

[Guest HariSampath]

He bowls with left hand :giggle: Selectors wanted him because the left arm spinner Murali Karthik is injured. Amit Mishra should have gotten a chance ahead of Ojha.

what the heck has Mishra done ?? What are his performances in 2007-08 season for India A, Delhi in Ranji one dayers or NZ in Deodhar trophy ? These are the FC games which are selection planks for India ODI team. Ojha has done brilliantly well in all these FC games, far better than Mishra who had been given chances and discarded.

[youngindia]

and why would they select mishra when piyush is there? i have been saying piyush is a superior talent and as the one rated higher, he will get a more permanent place in the future. Mishra is likely to play the role of macgill. Going by vision, i feel jadeja should come infor the long term. but i am not sure how much his left arm sin is rated at the moment. but he is a phenomenal hitter without a doubt.

[The Outsider]

what the heck has Mishra done ?? What are his performances in 2007-08 season for India A, Delhi in Ranji one dayers or NZ in Deodhar trophy ? These are the FC games which are selection planks for India ODI team. Ojha has done brilliantly well in all these FC games, far better than Mishra who had been given chances and discarded.

Would be interesting if you applied the same logic when the test squads are selected and Mishra is overlooked consistently for Chawla despite having a stellar FC record for season after domestic season. BTW, domestic OD games are not FC matches.

[graphic23]

I hope they select Mishra and Kartik for Sri Lanka, that would be great. Having said that, apart from Uthappa, everyone else deserves a spot. He's too limited and inconsistent to be in the team right now.

[satishg]

a balanced squad..no real surprises..Uthappa wud be feeling the pressure for sure..Badri must be wondering wat else he must do to get into the squad..hope he gets his chance and does not turn out to be like another TN cricketer Sharath :((

[coffee_rules]

Uthappa needs to be consistent, but he should also be given a consistent position. He has been the yo-yo of the team. I guess he can't be hidden anywhere. He is such a hit-or-miss player, he will only play a couple of seasons more and will be lost in the domestic circuit.

[coffee_rules]

No article has spoken the D-words yet. Dada and Dravid. I guess it looks like curtains for them now. Unless India loses the 2 tournaments horribly.

[fineleg]

Uthappa :angry_smile: What a useless Uthappam!!!

[Guest Hiten.]

I am fairly happy with the squad, but having said that seeing RU's name in the probable 15 obviously irks me. He has not done anything remarkable to be in the squad. Hopefully he delivers it in the absence of SRT.

[fineleg]

I expected: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh (RPS and IS may be under pressure after poorer IPL) Good additions - lets see if they can grab the chance: Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha. Borderline selections: Suresh Raina (Badri/Dhawan et al were also competing) Praveen Kumar (borderline, needs to show consistency) Piyush Chawla (Amit Mishra?) WASTE: Robin Uthappa (Badri shud have replaced this idjet Uthappa)

[gult]

what the heck has Mishra done ?? What are his performances in 2007-08 season for India A' date=' Delhi in Ranji one dayers or NZ in Deodhar trophy ? These are the FC games which are selection planks for India ODI team. Ojha has done brilliantly well in all these FC games, far better than Mishra who had been given chances and discarded.[/quote'] I thought they were selected based on their IPL performances.

[amits]

whats sehwag doing in the odi squad. he should retire from odis & look to play only tests. dhawan should have replaced him