BOMBAY, 27 February 2005 — India’s selectors kept faith with a struggling Vangipurappu Laxman by excluding Mohammad Kaif from a 14-player squad named yesterday for the first Test against Pakistan starting in Mohali on March 8.
The wristy Laxman, 30, had been under pressure to retain his place after scoring just two fifties in his last 15 innings, spread over four series. The talented Kaif was favored to remain in the squad.
The selectors, however, recalled left-hander Yuvraj Singh, who had been ignored after failing as a makeshift opener in last year’s home Test series defeat against Australia.
Yuvraj’s lone Test hundred came against Pakistan at Lahore last year.
Pakistan are scheduled to play three Tests and six One-Day Internationals in their first full series in India for six years.
Laxman, who scored an Indian Test record 281 to spark a 2-1 home series upset over Australia in 2001, has not reached three figures since he made 178 in the final Test in Sydney in January 2004.
“We considered Laxman’s past performances and his record against big teams in difficult conditions and we were convinced he should be given a place,” the Indian cricket board secretary Karunakaran Nair told reporters.
It was a tough decision for the selectors to pick Yuvraj ahead of Kaif, Nair added.
“Yuvraj’s previous record against Pakistan and his recent domestic success put him ahead, but Kaif is definitely in the running for a place during the series,” he said.
Kaif will captain an Indian cricket board President’s XI to play Pakistan in a warm-up game in Dharamsala from March 3-5.
Leading batsman Sachin Tendulkar was included after recovering from a long-term tennis elbow injury, along with pacemen Ashish Nehra and Lakshmipathy Balaji who also return from injury.
Also included was off spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was reported for throwing while bowling the ‘doosra’, the delivery, which spins away from a right-handed batsman, during India’s series in Bangladesh in December.
The 24-year-old bowler traveled to Australia to work with bio-mechanist Bruce Elliott this month and the Indian board awaits his report.
“We have asked the bio-mechanist to send his report at the earliest,” Nair said. “According to the ICC rules, he is permitted to play unless there is an adverse report.”
The selectors have retained Saurav Ganguly as captain for the entire series against Pakistan.
India’s Test squad: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Lakshmipathy Balaji.
Board President’s XI squad: Mohammad Kaif (captain), Dheeraj Jadhav, Satyajit Parab, Shikhar Dhawan, Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina, Neeraj Patel, Parthiv Patel (wicketkeeper), Ramesh Powar, Shib Shankar Paul, Rudrapratap Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Ranadeb Bose, R.Ramkumar.
