Injuries open up berths for GenNext in Test side

Kris Srikkanth & Co could be spending more time watching the medical bulletins of the Indian players than on their score sheets when they sit here on Thursday to select the squad for the two-Test  series against South Africa.

With a long of list of injured players, the committee’s job could be that much more difficult. Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, S Sreesanth and even Sachin Tendulkar are all suffering from some or other injury. Three of the above mentioned list — Dravid (broken jaw), Yuvraj (wrist) and Sreesanth (Grade I thigh muscle tear) are certain to miss first Test in Nagpur from February 6 to 10. Tendulkar (shoulder) is expected to recover for the match but the final word on Laxman will be known only on the morrow.

The absence of key players could open floodgates for a few youngsters. Aspirants like Virat Kohli of Delhi and Suresh Raina of UP have a good chance to come into Test reckoning.

The front runner for batting spot is S Badrinath. Names of Manish Pandey and  Rohit Sharma could also come for discussion. Mohammed Kaif, who has been making a comeback of sorts with a string of good performances in the domestic cricket, could be the dark horse.

There is unlikely to be any change in the spin department. Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra and Harbhajan Singh are likely to retain the places although the offie’s recent performance could come up for scrutiny. Abhimanyu Mithun of Karnakata, with nearly 50 wickets in the domestic cricket this season, is the favourite to replace Sreesanth. Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Sudeep Tyagi may retain their places.