Surprises unlikely in final World Cup squad

Injuries to top Indian players have made matters interesting ahead of the selection committee meeting for the World Cup, to be held in Chennai on Monday.

A day before the selection of the squad, India on Sunday received a jolt with Sachin Tendulkar returning home from South Africa after pulling a hamstring during the second One-day International on Saturday.

Before this major scare, Virender Sehwag (shoulder injury), Gautam Gambhir (hand injury) and pacer Praveen Kumar (hand injury) have returned home and the selectors would have a lot to ponder over as they pick the 15- member team for the tournament.

Sachin's injury obviously could be a major concern - the BCCI did not provide details while announcing that Parthiv Patel was being flown out to South Africa as his replacement - though a month is still left for India's opening game on February 19 against Bangladesh in Dhaka.

Tendulkar has been in ominous form for the last couple of years, and especially in the just- concluded Test series in South Africa. He and Sehwag are the automatic choices for the opening slots with Gambhir next. Even if Sehwag and Gambhir have not fully recovered as yet, they still have more than a month to get fit and thus can be included in the squad.

Murali Vijay, now playing in South Africa, could be a standby as he figures in the 30 probables announced last month. Like the openers, the middle order batsmen, an important area for any team, also pick themselves. There is little doubt about the selection of Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, and skipper MS Dhoni.

But will Rohit Sharma also find a place? Well, that remains to be seen, depending on how many bowlers the selectors pick.
The selection of Rohit could also depend on whether the selectors opt for a second wicketkeeper or take the bold decision to pick only Dhoni. But Parthiv, who has unjustifiably been ignored for the last few years, has suddenly come into the fray with so many injury scares.

Among the pacers, Zaheer Khan remains their spearhead, though it remains to be seen if the injury- prone left- armer doesn't add to the list of injured.

Munaf Patel, Praveen and Ashish Nehra, who is again a bit risky proposition in the longdrawn tournament considering his fitness history, Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma are expected to be the other members of the pace department. But one or two of these may have to make way to accommodate a second spinner.

Among the spinners, offie Harbhajan has no competition. Although R Ashwin, also an offspinner, is in South Africa, there is no guarantee that he would be picked for the World Cup too.

The selectors might want to have some variety and the selection of leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for the South Africa series is interesting. Who knows, left- arm spinner Pragyan Ojha might make the grade.

Rest of India leaves Mumbai with mammoth task

Oct 2, (Cricinfo- espnstar)

Rest of India extended their advantage on the second day, leaving Mumbai with the mammoth task of having to surpass 668 to gain a potentially decisive first-innings lead. Though Dhawal Kulkarni struck with three early wickets, Parthiv Patel's hundred and half-centuries from Virat Kohli and R Ashwin ensured the day belonged to Rest of India.

There was hope early in the morning for Mumbai, after seamer Kulkarni dismissed Abhinav Mukund, S Badrinath and captain Yuvraj Singh in quick succession. Both seamers Kulkarni and Usman Malvi got some away movement outside the off stump.

Parthiv Patel's 13th first-class century pushed Rest of India beyond 650 © Cricinfo Ltd

Kulkarni bowled a nagging length and had the left-handers in trouble with the angle from round the wicket. He got Mukund, who had looked a bit tentative, to edge an away-going delivery to gully in the ninth over of the day. Badrinath, meanwhile, had been pushed onto the back foot by the away movement. Four overs later, Kulkarni bowled Badrinath, six short of a hundred, as he played from the crease to a delivery that came in with the angle. Much was expected from Yuvraj, but he didn't last long. In his next over, Kulkarni took out his middle stump with a fuller one from round the wicket; Yuvraj playing all around it from the crease. Rest of India, on 353 for 1 at one stage, were suddenly 367 for 4.

But Kohli and Parthiv ensured the advantage didn't slip, adding 158 for the fifth wicket at close to five runs an over. Kohli stuck mostly to the Sunil Gavaskar school of batting. Anything outside off was left alone with a monk's discipline, and when the bowler pitched it straight or drifted onto his pads, he took full toll, driving gracefully and powerfully in the arc between extra cover and mid wicket.

One over from Abhishek Nayar, about an hour before lunch, typified Kohli's approach. The first ball was full, close to off stump, and was straight driven for four in a flash. The next four balls, wide outside off, were left alone. When Nayar pitched the last delivery fuller and closer to the stumps, he was hammered through extra cover. However, like Shikhar Dhawan on the first day, Kohli missed out on a hundred when in total control, hitting a Ramesh Powar long hop straight to midwicket on 90.

If Kohli dominated against the seamers, Parthiv was all footwork against the spinners, welcoming Powar with consecutive boundaries. He went over the infield when they flighted the ball, rocked back to play the cut and pull when they dropped it short, and was quick to use his feet on most occasions. Fifteen of his 18 fours came against the spinners. One of them to the midwicket boundary off Iqbal Abdulla brought up his 13th first-class century.

After Kohli fell, Parthiv and Ashwin compounded Mumbai's misery with the fourth century-plus stand of the innings at almost a run-a-ball. Ashwin played with all the assurance of a batsman averaging in the late-30s in first-class cricket. He lofted and cut the spinners, and pulled the seamers for boundaries. He mixed the powerful shots with some deft late cuts and guides, getting to his seventh first-class half-century with one such steer to third man.

Kulkarni returned to take two late wickets to finish with his seventh first-class five-wicket haul. But he sorely lacked support from the other bowlers, and had Ajit Agarkar been able to bowl (he didn't take the field today because of dehydration), maybe the story could have been different for Mumbai.

Their openers began well though, facing ten overs without any fuss. Mumbai will need a gargantuan batting effort to make anything out of this match.

SCORECARD

Mumbai 26 for 0 (Jaffer 18*) trail Rest of India 668 (Mukund 161, Parthiv 125, Badrinath 94, Kohli 90, Dhawan 83, Ashwin 73, Kulkarni 5-148) by 642 runs

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