Pathan back in the team!!!

[Chaos]

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Tuesday named skipper of the Indian cricket team for the ensuing one-day series against Australia and Pakistan but the selectors held back their decision on the Test team captaincy. The 26-year-old Dhoni, who is currently leading the Indian team in the Twenty20 World Cup, succeeds Rahul Dravid [Images], who recently sprang a surprise by relinquishing the captaincy to concentrate on his batting. The announcement was made by Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah at a press conference in Mumbai, putting to rest intense speculation on the captaincy issue ever since Dravid stepped down last Friday. The selectors, however, did not name the captain for the Test team. Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said a decision would be taken at a later stage. "Dhoni is a good captain and it is the right time to groom him," Vengsarkar said. The selectors also chose a 15-member squad for the first three matches of the ODI series against Australia, recalling paceman Irfan Pathan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. The squad, which will have Yuvraj Singh as vice-captain, has no place for opener Virender Sehwag, pacemen Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel, while Rohit Sharma has also been omitted. The team for first three ODIs against Australia. M S Dhoni (capt), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Romesh Pawar, Piyush Chawla, R P Singh, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh. Virender Sehwag, who is currently in the Twenty20 squad, was left out for the first three one-dayers against Australia, but Vengsarkar said, "He will get an opportunity because we need to rotate our players." On Munaf Patel's exclusion, Vengsarkar said, "Munaf stands a chance but he has to prove his fitness." Vengsarkar also felt that both Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan had done enough to merit a comeback. "Irfan and Harbhajan, both have done well off late in the Twenty20 World Cup and they deserve it. Irfan is a fine all-rounder and we will see his performance in the first few one-dayers." The chief selector also dismissed the notion that having three former captains would make it difficult for Dhoni to lead the side. "I don't think so. He would have three former captains in the ranks who would give him full support. You are talking about having three captains and Azharuddin had five former captains under him when he led India in England," Vengsarkar said. He also denied that Sachin Tendulkar was sounded out to take over as the new Indian captain. "We did not offer captaincy to anyone, neither did we talk to him regarding Test captaincy," he said. Vengsarkar said he was not aware what prompted Dravid to suddenly quit his job. "I don't know why he quit. He did not tell me." Asked if it was his criticism which led to Dravid's resignation, Vengsarkar said, "I did not criticise Dravid, that's a wrong impression." Rather, Vengsarkar argued, it could be constant media pressure that forced Dravid to relinquish the job. "It is, maybe, due to media scrutiny. Maybe, it was too much for him," he said. Asked if he had tried to persuade Dravid to stay on as India captain, Vengsarkar said, "No, I did not persuade, because I respect his decision." --------- Yes, thats right he is back! One of the best players of spin bowling and great swing bowler :two_thumbs_up:

[Ram]

Yaaaayy !!! :yay:

[Dirty_South]

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[yoda]

are you guys retarded?

[zubinpepsi]

are you guys retarded?

u mite also want to add crapathan in there..:haha:

[Dirty_South]

Cr@pthan is a better batsman than Sachin

[King Tendulkar]

What has he done peformance wise to earn a recall since being axed for bowling like a club bowler in an indian shirt? His selection makes a mockery of the slection system

[Zap_Brannigan]

He didn't look all that impressive in the 2 games. His speed was still lower than 80 and he didn't swing the ball like he used to. He was accurate,i will give him that,but apart from that it was basically his slow speed and lack swing that cost him the spot in the 1st place. He would be a good option as a 5th bowler/7th batsman role.

[zubinpepsi]

What has he done peformance wise to earn a recall since being axed for bowling like a club bowler in an indian shirt? His selection makes a mockery of the slection system

wat does ganguly done to earn a recall? where were u hiding when ganguly was recalled? and where were u hiding when he was winning matches for India?

[King Tendulkar]

Ganguly done very well in FC cricket for a year along with ZK. They both worked hard and put numbers on the board for a year. WTF has Pathan done in this respect since being dropped?

[zubinpepsi]

Thts one BS.. he dint do anything remarkably to earn a recall.. He was called back because the youngsters who replaced him lost their form and were doing well..

[King Tendulkar]

Well I want dada dropped anyway. Him and laxy should be retired

[Chandan]

Ganguly done very well in FC cricket for a year along with ZK. They both worked hard and put numbers on the board for a year. WTF has Pathan done in this respect since being dropped?

FYI, Ganguly did terribly in the FC cricket in India and in the county cricket he was a walking wicket. It was this time when I thought that maybe he was finished. But soon getting the recall in the Indian team, he was scoring with such determination which we had never seen before. And that is continuing in test. And remember, if he is good in tests means he still has plenty in him. I hope Pathan follows the same route.

[Chandan]

Well I want dada dropped anyway. Him and laxy should be retired

From what?? He has been our highest run getter in SA and second highest run-getter in England in tests. And you want him dropped?? Back your post with reasons, so that others read your comment and find something meaningful!

[King Tendulkar]

From what?? He has been our highest run getter in SA and second highest run-getter in England in tests. And you want him dropped?? Back your post with reasons, so that others read your comment and find something meaningful!

His fielding and running btwn the wickets has been awful and always has been awful. Its certainly not going to improve with age but get worse. I want us to move away from such players. Out of the older 4 laxy, sachin, dravid and gangs. He is the oldest and the least mobile. He has done ok with the bat. But in other aspects has been poor. Also looking at the bigger picture he is not in same class as other top batters with inherent weaknesses against short ball for one. We need to phase out oldies and he should be first to go with laxy. Both are the worst atheletes and least good batters in overall class. He has been a great servant but his time is up!

[Chandan]

Sorry DSR, but these are old excuses! If the batsman is being your highest and second highest run-scorer, despite being a poor runner between the wicket, that speaks of volumes of others performance in the team. Isn't it?? And despite Ganguly's poor fielding, if the team is winning, and that too against the number 2 side of the world at their home, I'd rather have this player till he hangs his boot himself!! And what was your reply to Ganguly having done trememdously well in your perception while he had done terribly after being dropped??You need to change your perception a bit so that it matches reality!!

[living]

plus he's been getting important wickets for us

[zubinpepsi]

And despite Ganguly's poor fielding, if the team is winning, and that too against the number 2 side of the world at their home, I'd rather have this player till he hangs his boot himself!!

wat a ridiculopus stmt ? so u r ok with the team winning here and with this kinda of performance?? remem england doesnt play like no.2 .. and we won not cuz of ganguly cuz of some exceptional swing bowling by zaak n RP..

[Chandan]

Zubin, And obviously the runs scored in those difficult conditions didn't matter in the victory, isn't it? Zak and RP would have won us series even if our team would have got out on 100 odd runs?? Right??