First things first. Does Irfan Pathan stand a chance to be picked for the Australia tour? Yes. He has an ‘outside chance’. If one were to quote a source in the selection committee, he is not on top of their priority list.
Until Sunday night, the dice was heavily loaded against the India discard, who has been in top form this Ranji season. At least four players are above him on the list that’s being considered to replace the injured Praveen Kumar. Pathan should feel lucky if he were to get the nod.
In fact, if the selectors decide to pick a left-arm pacer, someone such as Jaydev Unadkat will be considered. The Saurashtra pacer is very much on the selectors’ radar.
At his point, however, Abhimanyu Mithun is on top of the list. Also in contention is R Vinay Kumar who has been doing a good job in the ODIs against the West Indies.
Interestingly, even Sreesanth was on the selectors’ mind. The report of his fitness (or rather the lack of it) has not reached their table. Maybe, they will be officially intimated about his injury status on Monday, when Kris Srikkanth & Co meet.
This was the situation on Sunday night. Pathan will have to pray for a sudden change of mind among the selectors to be considered.
As far as the squad for the last two ODIs is concerned, one should not expect too many changes. The selectors want to give a chance to all the players in the squad which means the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Mithun and Rahul Sharma will get to play in the last two matches, if not in the third ODI on Monday.
So there is little chance of new players coming in. Speculation notwithstanding, Sachin Tendulkar is unlikely to be picked. Also, Virender Sehwag will continue to remain as skipper.
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