Yuvi definitely a frontrunner for Test slot: Chief selector

[fineleg]

There is a battle within a battle, though a friendly one, when the Indian batsmen take on England in the seven-match one-day series starting on November 14. Sourav Ganguly has vacated a middle-order spot in the Test team, and indications are that it will go to the man who makes the most of the opportunities in the one-dayers. The Indian selectors have made it clear they will be guided by current form, even if it is in the shorter format, and the competition is between Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and M Vijay. The first three can expect to be in the starting line-up on Friday, and the fourth is expected to get his chance at some point during the series. The other contender, S Badrinath, was part of the India squad for the recent Australia Tests but did not play a match and, having lost his place in the ODI team for the first three matches against England, will hope that a recall later in the series will help him state his case once again. Then there's Virat Kohli, the Under-19 World Cup winning captain who, it is felt, is still some way away from the Test grade. Yuvraj is a proven performer in the one-day arena but his stocks have depleted following a poor series in Sri Lanka; Raina has made an impressive comeback after a season in the sidelines; and Rohit, though not consistent enough at the highest level, has left no one in doubt about his pedigree. But it is the speed with which Vijay has moved from a Ranji Trophy double-century in Nasik to the Test XI in Nagpur and the one-day team that has added an intriguing turn to this race. Apparently, the selectors are impressed by the assurance with which Vijay handled Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson in Nagpur, especially the time he seemed to have facing balls at 140kph. He has been highly recommended by Dav Whatmore, the India A coach, and he happens to be the only Test player in this group apart from Yuvraj. Then there is Raina, who caught Greg Chappell's attention with a match-winning 81 against England in Faridabad two-and-a-half years ago, and has resurrected his career after a horror tour of South Africa in late 2006 that led to his banishment. His left-handedness is an advantage, and he is seen as a No. 6 Test batsman for his ability to absorb pressure and shift gears. Rohit, meanwhile, is well on his way to becoming the complete batsman his batting prowess shows he can be. But then, after a convincing ODI debut in Australia early this year, he has struggled to string together more than two good scores in one sequence. Consider his recent scores in the Challenger Trophy: 2,117*, 1. If it was not for this bewildering lack of consistency, due to what some feel is a lack of focus at times, Rohit would have been the obvious choice to replace Ganguly. But not any longer, unless he finally starts to match the hype and immense potential with a string of consistent scores. And so, it's back to the queue. Finally, Yuvraj. "What do we do with this boy?," a selector from the previous committee had once wondered aloud, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders. "He has played for eight years, he has played in 23 Tests, but just when we think he is the man, he starts losing focus, or gets injured." Yuvraj is currently going through an appalling run of poor form, which began during the ODI series in Sri Lanka where his sequence of scores read 23, 20, 12, 0, 17. Though he managed a second-innings century in the tour match against Australia, he slipped again in the Challenger Trophy, scoring 6, 3 and 8. He will come in to this series with a duck and 38 in the Ranji Trophy game against Delhi. He has also been battling injuries which have restricted his mobility in the field, and now faces one the biggest tests of his career. As of now, Raina and Rohit are the front-runners for the job. But a lot could happen in the next three weeks. Ajay Shankar is deputy editor of Cricinfo

[TaNk]

^^ sucka beat me to it :(

[amits]

it will be taken by pujara. he scored 3 300s in the last 2 weeks

[fineleg]

amits, Unless pujara gets into the ODI squad, looks like thats the "pool" cheeka and co. are looking at.

[Kartikey]

Hopefully Raina plays well. Im not sure about Yuvi atm.

[amits]

players shouldnt be selected or be dropped from tests due to odi performances. yuvraj & sehwag being 2 big examples. yuvraj - huge success in odis, but a proven failure in tests. sehwag, flop in odis, but a huge success in tests. and vijay got into the test team without playing a single odi. and incase u dont know, even gavaskar has said that pujara should be in the indian test team

[Ram]

At home, against an attack that lack a quality spinner ( which is the case with most test teams nowadays), Yuvraj is a decent bet. He showed it against Pakistan last year and this year, against a full-strenght Aussie attack he did it again, in the BP XI match. But, I doubt if he will make it.

[Cricketics]

whoever comes doesn't matter.. they won't get to bat anyway

[sm332]

personally I think that Badri should have gotten a proper run in the team. He was there by dint of work and performance. To jettison him without a proper shot is not done. Instead we are going to recycle proven failures (in tests) like Yuvvi, given guys who havent shown the goods in FC level (R. Sharma) and a guy who hasnt done nearly enough in any format (Raina) and finally a guy who is very very green under the ears (Vijay). In this case, I am not convinced about the selection short list.

[Sooda]

The Indian selectors have made it clear they will be guided by current form, even if it is in the shorter format, and the competition is between Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and M Vijay. The first three can expect to be in the starting line-up on Friday, and the fourth is expected to get his chance at some point during the series. ------- Inexplicable. I agree with SS. How can it NOT be Badri? 12th man and in the last squad. He is not even in the ODI squad is he? Infuriating this, maddening inconsistency with selection...

[sm332]

The Indian selectors have made it clear they will be guided by current form, even if it is in the shorter format, and the competition is between Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and M Vijay. The first three can expect to be in the starting line-up on Friday, and the fourth is expected to get his chance at some point during the series. ------- Inexplicable. I agree with SS. How can it NOT be Badri? 12th man and in the last squad. He is not even in the ODI squad is he? Infuriating this, maddening inconsistency with selection...

Who is SS?

[Sooda]

Badrinath So whats he done wrong? Is he not in the ODI squad because he is injured because there should NOT be any other reason. He looked very assured in SL and now sees his TN team mate usurp his spot. ON WHAT BASIS? Surely he should further up than Kohli- vastly more experienced. Kohli needs 2 seasons in the ranji circuit. Must be so dsiheartening. Bizarre, inconsistent selectors And now that article on the Battle for Gangs Place article on Cric... dosent even have him as one of the front runners. When he was 12th man. WHY??

[fineleg]

it is puzzling...did he rub cheeka or msd(IPL-chennai) the wrong way? in IPL he always got sent way down the order by MSD after pappugedera ... or challenger series?

[Predator_05]

Because he is average. When was the last time you saw him play a substantial innings against a good bowling attack ? He was given a chance to lead the Board President's XI against a full strength Australian team and he scored just 16 runs in two innings. Rohit Sharma, Kohli and Yuvraj all scored hundreds in that same game. Kohli also batted much better than him in the SL ODIs, that too when he was out of position as an opener. I have no sympathy for him. If you can't score big against international bowling attacks, your fat FC average means nothing.

[WeStMiDz]

I agree with Predator. Unfortunately he has not done anything to tell the selectors that he is here to STAY in his limited opportunities.

[jf1gp_1]

Because he is average. When was the last time you saw him play a substantial innings against a good bowling attack ? He was given a chance to lead the Board President's XI against a full strength Australian team and he scored just 16 runs in two innings. Rohit Sharma' date=' Kohli and Yuvraj all scored hundreds in that same game. Kohli also batted much better than him in the SL ODIs, that too when he was out of position as an opener. I have no sympathy for him. If you can't score big against international bowling attacks, your fat FC average means nothing.[/quote'] Precisely. He failed in the side games; failed to get a big score in high profile domestic games and more than anything looked so ordinary in the few chances he got in SL. Forget comparing him with yuvraj or sharma ; M vijay an absolutely shocking pick by selectors ahead of relatively established jaffer, kartik even chopra, was rushed to joined the team, one practice session then opening against lee and johnson was dancing down the track as early as 8 or 9th over of the opening day of a test match came across as someone who belong in international cricket Just because badrinath didnt do anything wrong doesnt mean he did everything right.

[bharat297]

Badrinath definitely deserves a chance in Tests. I dont rate him that much as an ODI player anyway. But he should get a go in Tests.

[bharat297]

Woah ... so what happened to Badrinath? Why is he out of the equation? Given that he averages just under 55 and has scored a mountain of runs at domestic level. And also given that he was already in the Indian Test squad ... shouldnt he be the natural successor?

[h4te]

Badrinath definitely deserves a chance in Tests. I dont rate him that much as an ODI player anyway. But he should get a go in Tests.

This.

[cowboysfan]

looks right to me(except yuvi).I would go with rohit or raina.Rohit has the potential to be great if he can be consistent.