Dhoni shows who's the boss as Gambhir kicked out for first two Tests against Australia

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's grip over Indian cricket just got stronger. The 15-man squad for the first two Tests against Australia was announced on Sunday, and the only man emerging as an alternate power centre to Dhoni in the national side - Gautam Gambhir - was dropped.

The reason that is being given for Gambhir's ouster is bad form, given that he hadn't scored a Test century since January 2010. However, his form in the recent series against England was decent, as he compiled two half-centuries and a pair of 40s.

On the other hand, Virender Sehwag, who cracked a ton in the first Test of the series but didn't do much else, has been retained, giving a clear indication that there is more to Gambhir's axing than meets the eye.

Three changes were made to the team from the last Test that India played, and in came fiery off-spinner Harbhajan Singh as well as opener Shikhar Dhawan and medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Harbhajan, an old Dhoni aide included in place of Piyush Chawla, has an excellent record against Australia (81 wickets in 12 Tests at home) but does not have current form. However, whether he will actually get a game ahead of the skipper's favourite spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha, who took 20 wickets against England, remains to be seen.

Harbhajan, who has been pretty good at playing mind games, said that a number of lefthanders in the opposition squad could work to India's advantage.

"It's always nice to play against Australia. They have a pretty new batting line-up. If I am not wrong, they have a lot of left-handers, apart from (Michael) Clarke and (Shane) Watson and they have not played much Test cricket and not played in India.

"This would be a challenging series for them and hopefully we will put them under pressure from the first day of the Test match," the off-spinner said.

Bhuvneshwar's selection is a bit of a surprise, given that he's a swing bowler and could be cannon fodder on Indian pitches once the ball loses its shine.

A fit-again Sreesanth would have been an ideal foil for Ishant Sharma with his experience, but Dhoni's dislike for the mercurial Kerala pacer seems to have kept him out.

The third seamer in the side is Bengal's Ashoke Dinda, who looks set to make his debut after three years in the wings as a limited-overs player. Dhawan is an aggressive lefthanded opener, but is unlikely to make his Test debut immediately.

He was stellar in the Duleep Trophy and averaged over 55 in this domestic season, including 524 at 47.63 in the Ranji Trophy. The other opener in the squad is Dhoni's fellow Chennai Super King player Murali Vijay, who has been kept in the side ahead of the in-form but much older Wasim Jaffer.

Vijay had a pretty ordinary Ranji season, with a highest score of 42, but had centuries in both Irani Cup games, and is odds-on favourite to open with Sehwag on his home ground in the first Test, which begins on February 22.

Jaffer, on the other hand, produced yet another stellar season in which he made 835 runs at 75.90, and also hit 80 and 101 not out in the Irani Cup match which ended on Sunday.

But he is pushing 35, and as such, the choice of Dhawan made sense. The selectors retained Ravindra Jadeja as the all-round option and Ajinkya Rahane as the extra batsman, and it will be a toss-up between those two for a slot in the XI.

Former national selector Chetan Chauhan was surprised by the decision to drop Gambhir and not include Raina.

"I felt that he [Gambhir] would have been given two more Test matches to prove his mettle," he told Mail Today.

Commenting on Harbhajan's inclusion, Chauhan said, "His selection has been based on his past performances against Australia and now that he is here, he should definitely be a part of the playing XI." India's most successful captain, Sourav Ganguly, backed the selectors' choice.

"He [Gambhir] hasn't scored runs in the last three years and the selectors have shown that they are looking to build a young squad for the future," he said.

On Sehwag's retention, Ganguly said: "He has an average of 50-plus in Test cricket and scored a century against England in the first Test. So I think he deserved another chance. I already think that they have been a little unfair to him in the ODI format by dropping him."

As for Raina's exclusion, although Ganguly feels there is definite improvement in his batting, his showing in the Irani Cup isn't enough for a Test recall. "Firstly, Ravindra Jadeja was given an opportunity in the fourth Test against England and to now drop him after just one Test would be unfair.

"Also, the selectors had said that they are also looking at Rahane as a middle-order bat as well, so I think just performing in the Irani Cup wasn't enough for Raina. Although he played really well in Dharamsala in the last ODI against England facing quality pacers, the fast bowling on offer in the Irani wasn't top-class. So I think it will take a while for him to get a recall," he said.

Source:

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bcci-announces-team-australia-tests-harbhajan-singh-gautam-gambhir/1/249685.html

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