ICC Champions Trophy - Will courageous Indian selectors be proved right?

The previous selection panel has a World Cup to show for its endeavours. Yet, they have been vilified on numerous occasions. While the Sandeep Patil-led selection team braces itself for the biggest challenge in its short tenure, there are reasons to celebrate and reasons to commiserate.

What stands out, though, is the courage of the selection panel, courage that has been a rare commodity with its predecessors. The panel hasn’t shirked away from taking harsh decisions, decisions that are likely to have a lasting impact on some of the big names of Indian cricket. It is not a play-safe squad by any stretch of imagination, unless you want to start reading between the lines and predict conspiracy theories. A few boundaries have been pushed in interesting directions.

In a different shade of blue, Rohit Sharma will again face a stern test

Gautam Gambhir is the biggest casualty. The selection panel has clearly sent a message by picking Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan ahead of the Delhi southpaw, whose fall from grace knows no end.

Rohit’s insouciant-genius image has been justified by the selectors, who have offered him yet another chance at the big stage. Rohit had been in sublime form this IPL, his shoulders broadening under the burden of Mumbai Indians‘ captaincy. In the home ODI series against England, he did well in one knock and frittered away another to his now-characteristic vagaries of shot selection. This IPL though he amassed 538 runs at 38.42, coming at an impressive strike rate of 131.54.

Dhawan has proved his blitzkrieg Test debut was no fluke with two wonderful half-centuries in the IPL, coming from a reasonably long break forced by a fracture. Murali Vijay might consider thanking his stars though. His form has been anything but reassuring in the IPL. The selectors have given him a longer rope, largely as gratitude for his steely performances in the Test series against Australia. Gambhir, with two poor series’ against England and Pakistan, followed by a lacklustre IPL campaign, cannot complain much.

The other big name to miss out is Yuvraj Singh. Yuvraj, a better performer in India colours, has rarely set the IPL on fire and this season has been no different. In a surprising transition, with good performances over the past few months, Ravindra Jadeja has taken an all-rounder’s spot ahead of Yuvraj Singh. Jadeja has done reasonably well this IPL too, contributing with both bat and ball.

Irfan Pathan, the other all-rounder in the squad, is expected to find the English conditions much to his liking. Yuvraj’s tally of 238 runs at 19.83 and 6 wickets this IPL isn’t anything to show for. Ravindra Jadeja though showed how impactful he could be, with 201 runs and 13 wickets, some of the contributions coming from pressure cooker situations. Jadeja, who is a world class fielder in his own right, has been given a nod ahead of a star of Yuvraj’s stature. This is a risk that might come undone if he doesn’t respond. Between the three, Yuvraj missing out is still debatable. Jadeja has rarely ever been convincing against quality seam bowling, which is what he will be bombarded with at the Champions Trophy being played in England.

Vinay Kumar and Amit Mishra have usually been favoured options. In this squad though, they have virtually walked in on the basis of their IPL performances. Amit Mishra plucked 21 wickets at 18.76 apiece, proving to be a vital cog in Sunrisers’ giant killing act this IPL. Vinay Kumar’s 23 have come at 21.43 apiece. He has been Virat Kohli‘s go-to bowler for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

What is befuddling though, is that unless there is an injury, Mishra is destined to warm the benches, with Ashwin and Jadeja almost certainties in the playing XI. In that case, Shami Ahmed would have been a more logical pick in the squad. A young bowler, who like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, can swing it early, if not prodigiously, Shami has some pace about him too and regularly touched 140kph in the ODI series against England. The 23-year-old, who had a reasonably decent start to his career, will feel unlucky for missing out. England would have been a good place to groom him, for pace bowlers of quality are an endangered species in India. Umesh Yadav walks in with oozing confidence, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be expected to partner him with the new ball.

The only other new entrant to the squad is Dinesh Karthik. 510 runs at an average of 28.33 in the IPL makes Karthik an obvious pick as a backup wicket-keeper. Dinesh Karthik started IPL in a rich vein of form before trailing away towards the end. Nevertheless, he has also been in Patil’s good books for a while and has the talent in him to justify selection as an out and out batsman. He might slug it out for a specialist batting slot with Vijay and Dhawan.

Shikhar Dhawan is clearly a front-runner to join a batting pack where only Dhoni, Raina and Kohli are certainties in the starting XI. Ajinkya Rahane, who was exposed against English seam bowlers hasn’t done himself any favours this IPL, languishing amongst the underachievers of the tournament. His season picked up towards the end, but alas the squad had already been picked by then.

All in all, the Champions Trophy squad was picked largely based on IPL form, with Vijay being the lone exception. It is a team that could surprise a few, with its agile fielders and skilled all-rounders. India is expected to bat deep with Ashwin, Irfan Pathan and Jadeja in the ranks. Giving IPL performances a lot of weightage might not really be the most sensible thing, considering English pitches are very different from India’s. With very few proven performers against quality pace and swing bowling, the wheels could come off the team with equal ease. Let’s hope it is a good learning curve for the team that is on top of the pile in the ICC ODI rankings.