Breathe, SA: India leave out Sachin and Sehwag Print E-mail
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Written by Luke Tagg   
Thursday, 25 February 2010 23:52
Having won the ODI series against South Africa, India's selectors have decided to rest key players and do a little experimentation on the side for the final ODI in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Praveen Kumar are all getting rested, which means India are without seven of their first-choice team (if you include injuries to Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, and an extended break for Harbhajan Singh).

It's a dead rubber. Why wouldn't they?

I imagine South Africa will go a similar route - the result of the match is utterly inconsequential. All that can be gained from it is a better understanding of the reserve/fringe players.

The only players not to have featured for the Proteas in the series are Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe - I think it's time to see what they've got. At least Sachin's double-ton is done and dusted - they couldn't possibly do worse.

This is the new-look Indian squad:

MS Dhoni (c/wk)
Murali Vijay
Dinesh Karthik
Virat Kohli
Suresh Raina
Rohit Sharma
Yusuf Pathan
Ravindra Jadeja
Sudeep Tyagi
Sreesanth
Ravichandran Ashwin
Amit Mishra
Abhimanyu Mithun
Ashish Nehra

As good as these guys may be, they're not Sachin and Sehwag. Small mercies.

Murali Vijay didn't exactly set the Test series alight, but his stats suggest a quality player. He hasn't yet played an ODI and could well be one of the new-look opening duo.

Rohit Sharma is a proven talent in T20 cricket but hasn't had much influence in the 41 ODIs he's played for India. He may get a run for the selectors to have another look at where he is.

Any which way you cut it, it's still a pretty tough outfit - even without the star power and double-centurions. Here's a potential side:

1. Murali Vijay
2. Dinesh Karthik
3. Virat Kohli
4. Suresh Raina
5. Rohit Sharma
6. Yusuf Pathan
7. MS Dhoni (c/wk)
8. Ravindra Jadeja
9. Amit Mishra
10. Ashish Nehra
11. Sreesanth

A chance for the young guns to impress on their own terms.

As much as I would like the side I constructed on Thursday for the Proteas, I'm happy to see Morkel and Tsotsobe get a run. Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell have had a tough old tour and could probably use the rest. They don't appear to have much left in the tank.

JP Duminy is reportedly already winging his way home, according to cricket writer Altus Momberg, which leaves 13 players competing for 11 places (if you remove Steyn and Parnell from the equation):

1. Hashim Amla
2. Loots Bosman/Herschelle Gibbs
3. Jacques Kallis (c)
4. AB de Villiers
5. Alviro Petersen
6. Albie Morkel
7. Mark Boucher (wk)
8. Roelof van der Merwe
9. Johan Botha/Charl Langeveldt
10. Morne Morkel
11. Lonwabo Tsotsobe

I'm still convinced about my two-spinner theory. At the very least I'd like to give it a go. Who cares if they get belted?

I've got no clue which way this game will go, but I do know that India will come out as hard as they have all series. Maybe even harder, considering the desire of newbies to impress.

South Africa will either play for pride or the hell of it, depending on their outlook. Since they have nothing to lose they ought to give back as good as they get.

I really hope, for the sake of a pitifully small amount of parity, that South Africa wins the toss and bats. I'm itching to know what they are capable of when setting a target, something they haven't had the luxury of doing so far. It's one thing posting a massive score on a belter of a flat-track, but quite another chasing one.

If South Africa do bat first and win the game, we'll call Sachin the difference in the series.
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