Thanks to his sensational debut, Haryana leggie Amit Mishra retained his place as the selectors named an unchanged Indian squad for the final two Tests against Australia.
MOHALI: Thanks to his sensational debut, Haryana leggie Amit Mishra retained his place as the selectors on Monday named an unchanged Indian squad for the final two Tests against Australia.
Mishra, who was drafted into the playing XI here only after regular skipper Anil Kumble pulled out at the eleventh hour with a shoulder injury, made the most of the chance and announced his arrivals in Test scene with a five-wicket haul.
The 25-year-old Mishra's sterling performance in fact jeopardised Kumble's comeback in the side and the team think-tank would have an unenviable job when they decide to pick the playing XI for the Delhi Test starting October 29.
Though S Badrinath, RP Singh and Munaf Patel retained their place in the squad, their chances of breaking into the playing XI looks quite slim. In the middle order, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly have done well in the series so far with only VVS Laxman looking little off-colour.
In the bowling department also, Zaheer Khan has been simply outstanding with his reverse swing while Ishant Sharma has made life difficult for the Australians.
Meanwhile, though Ganguly didn't field for the major part of Australia's second innings today with a swelling on his elbow, teammate Gautam Gambhir said it was nothing serious.
"As a matter of precaution, he didn't field for sometime. It's just a swelling on the elbow, nothing serious about that. With the kind of form he is in, he was not fielded as a matter of precaution," Gambhir said.
Asked if Amit Mishra's performance complicated Kumble's comeback, Gambhir said, "See, there is lot of time before the third Test. This is something for the think-tank to decide. I can say that the best XI would play the match."
Earlier, Chief selector Krish Srikkanth was also effusive in his praise for the chubby Haryana leggie and said Amit had lived up to the selectors' expectations.
"Now we know we have more options and our effort would be to ensure that the best Indian team walks out to play," Srikkanth said on Sunday.
"When we named him in the squad, people wondered where he came from. He has answered that today. He is a brave bowler, has a big heart and has a quiet confidence about him. We took into account his past records.
"He has been around in domestic cricket for seven years, has taken 300 wickets and did extremely well in the A series. Besides, he was impressive in the Indian Premier League as well. Now when a leg-spinner shows so much control in the Twenty20 format, you have to acknowledge that he is really good," Srikkanth said.
Meanwhile, with the young leg-spinner staying back for the final two Test matches, Delhi spinner Chetanya Nanda will replace him in the Challenger Series, BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.
Squad: Anil Kumble (Captain), M.S. Dhoni (Wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, R P Singh, S Badrinath, Munaf Patel.
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