Selectors likely to face problem of plenty

With batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar all set to come back for the remaining four One-Dayers against England, the Indian selectors are likely to face a ‘problem of plenty’ especially with border-line players Yousuf Pathan and Suresh Raina doing quite well in the first two matches so far.

Former Indian stumper and chief selector, Kiran More, said the problem of plenty was bound to arise to accommodate a player of Sachin’s caliber and it will be a tricky situation for chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth and company when they sit down at Kanpur on November 20 to pick the side for the remaining four matches in the seven-match One-Day series.

"A player of Sachin’s caliber has to be accommodated, what come may. But I feel sorry for players like Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina or even Yousuf Pathan because one of them has to make way for the highest scorer in One-Day cricket (Tendulkar) to come in to the playing eleven. It will be a tricky situation for the selectors indeed," More told Cricketnext.com on Tuesday.

"Though this situation (problem of plenty) is a welcome sign for the team, the borderline players are the ones to be hit hard under the circumstances.

"Yousuf’s blistering unbeaten half century at Indore has only made matters worse for the selectors as the only way now to accommodate Sachin is by dropping Rohit Sharma, who has been a live wire on the field but has not done much with the bat so far while Raina played an important knock at Rajkot,” More added.

"if Ishant, who is said to be nursing an injury, is also fit for the last four ties than things get really complicated even though Rudra Prathap Singh will be the first choice discard and Munaf Patel’s place will always be shaky in a One-Day match as the Indians tend to prefer just two seamers hoping that the spinners, including the part-timers, do the job for the team," More pointed out.

Another former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Chandrakant Pandit agreed with More even though he felt that the Indians can take the risk of dropping a bowler at this stage of the series.

"Personally I feel Zaheer (Khan) and Ishant Sharma (if fit) should be our pace aces as the spinners will have a bigger role to play in this series at least. With Viru (Virender Sehwag) and Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) picking up bag full of wickets, the selectors may consider playing just three specialist bowlers (Zaheer, Ishant and Harbhajan Singh)," Pandit said.

"Sachin is one player who can walk into any team in the world and it is unfortunate that one of the talented youngsters like Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina or Yousuf Pathan will have to be sacrificed if the team think-tank decides to play four bowlers.

"Anyway it is a welcome sign for the skipper and the team management as they will have quality players waiting in the wings. It is always better to have more than nothing at all," he added.

"This situation will also make the opposition wary and keep them guessing most of the time as they will be well aware that the replacement (for a senior player) will be as good and that they just cannot afford to relax one bit.

"However, the selectors’ job gets that much more complicated as they will be the ones to face the public wrath if something goes wrong or the preferred player fails miserably," Pandit observed.