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Chennai
Rookie Mumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarni earned a surprise call up to India's Test squad while fit-again speedster Lakshmipathy Balaji and his Tamil Nadu team-mate Dinesh Kaarthick staged a comeback for the gruelling tour of New Zealand starting next week.
The 20-year-old Kulkarni, who first came into the limelight in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League, has been rewarded for his consistent show in the domestic circuit.
Apart from Kulkarni's inclusion, there were no major surprises in the teams -- Test, ODI and Twenty20 -- that were picked here after a meeting of the National selection Panel headed by former India captain Krish Srikkanth.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and paceman Munaf Patel, both of whom missed the recent ODI series against Sri Lanka, have returned to all the three squads.
Balaji, who returned to the one-day fold as a replacement for Munaf during the series against Sri lanka, forced his way back into the Test reckoning with a splendid performance as Tamil Nadu's pace spearhead in the domestic circuit.
The selectors opted to take two wicketkeepers for the 48-day tour, comprising three Tests, five one-dayers and two twenty20 matches. Kaarthick pipped Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel to be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's back-up.
The selectors have not tinkered much with the ODI and the Twenty20 squads, which by and large are the same that won the ODI series against Sri Lanka 4-1 and beat them in the one-off T20 game.
Opener Murali Vijay was retained in the Test squad which, however, has no place for left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who figures in the ODI and Twenty20 squads.
Veterans Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman have been picked only for the Test series, while Sachin Tendulkar will play the Test and ODIs but has opted out of the Twenty20 matches.
Considering the seaming conditions in New Zealand, the selectors opted for just two specialist spinners in Harbhajan and Amit Mishra for the Test matches, while picking a five-pronged pace attack.
The Test squad has three specialist openers, five middle-order batsmen and a reserve wicketkeeper in Kaarthick. Zaheer Khan, who has been excellent form in recent times, will spearhead the pace attack which also includes Ishant Sharma, Munaf, Balaji and Kulkarni.
The Indian team will leave for New Zealand on February 19 and will start the tour with a Twenty20 match at Christchurch on February 25. The next Twenty20 game will played in Wellington on February 27. The ODI series starts March 3, while the Test series will get underway from March 18.
Kulkarni, a right-arm medium pacer, came into spotlight after his performance for the Mumbai Under-17 team during the 2005-06 Vijay Merchant Trophy.
In the 13 first-class match he has played so far, Kulkarni has taken 49 wickets at an average of 22.02 and an economy rate of 2.94.
For Balaji, who had been laid low by a back injury, it is a comeback after almost four years, having played his last Test against Pakistan in Bangalore in March 2005.
Kaarthick had played his last Test against Sri Lanka at Galle in July-August last year.
Test Squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Kaarthick, L Balaji, Dhawal Kulkarni, Murali Vijay.
ODI Squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Dinesh Kaarthick, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan.
Twenty20 squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Dinesh Kaarthick, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja.
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M Vijay, Balaji and D Karthik.....Hehehehe.... Kris Srikanth is having a ball, isn't he?!!!! But Mumbaikars should try to enjoy the taste of their own medicine and not cavil. The rest of the country can complain because the selection is biased and Srikanth was never a chap of any integrity. His unabashed 180 degree turns in his collumns and during commentary bear testimony to his opportunism. Before his stint is over I wouldn't be surprised even if his son got into the national team at some level!
Which means no place for run machines Badrinath, Pujara and Rahane. What a shame, a real shame for Indian cricket. What a travesty indeed. K.Srikkanth cannot be blamed if Tamil Nadu has 5 great players in Badri, Dinesh, Vijay, Mukund and Balaji. They all deserve to play for India, most of all the ever betrayed gifted player Badrinath. The big question of course is, are Sachin, Dravid and Laxman legends as they may be, are they up to it, being in the twilight of their careers?
One shudders to visualise how the leading hard hitting Kiwi batsman like Fulton, Guptil, Taylor, Elliot, Damanti et all will eagerly wait ,with their tongues hung with dripping saliva, to face Balagi who seeminly unwillingly chugs in at narrow guage locomotive speed to the bowling crease. They will be heartily thanking the Indian Selectors, especially Srikkanth. I am writing this with a fond hope that Balaji will disprove me.
i find srikanth to be fair..he was a unselfish player and captain.. not sure if badrinath made it.. glad karthik is back.
wassim jaffer is a hero in indian pitch but zero in foreign pitches and it was proved in australia.Let other players get chances like badri and vijay woh are done well in recent matches of duleep trohy and ranji trophy.we Know that your mumbai lobby is start to loose its influence and malign other state players and legend like srikkanth. We know that how badly we south indians treated badly by the hand of mumbai fanatics, now its your turn to cry with jealous. stop cry now.
What is M Vijay doing in the Test squad, when the more experienced and the number one batsman in the just concluded domestic season - Wasim Jaffer is available? With Srikanth as the Godfather, players from his home state can look forward to frequent call ups to the national squad. His bias clearly shows. First it was Badrinath, now Balaji and M Vijay. Where are you, a certain Mr. Mukand? It is high time the BCCI does away with the zonal system of the selection committee.