July 23, 2006: The selection of the Indian team is expected lines, as the newspapers and TV channels have been saying. If fact, lot of things are on expected lines when it comes to the way cricket is run India.

The only ‘surprise’ decision, that of including Dinesh Mongia in the ODI team for Sri Lankan triseries, was also a bit on expected lines. Kiran More, the selection committee chairman, explained that they intended to make use of him as an all-rounder and that besides his good batting performances, it is his left arm bowling that made them pick him.

In November 2005, the same Kiran More had made a similar announcement; that time the surprise inclusion was that of Sourav Ganguly, who was expected to bow out after Rahul Dravid was made captain. But he was picked and the logic was that the selectors recognised Sourav’s potential as an all-rounder!

The obvious difference was that the board secretary who chaired the meeting along with More was S.K. Nair and this time it is Niranjan Shah. Jagmohan Dalmiya was still ruling the roost at that time and it clearly had a lot to do with Ganguly’s selection. It’s naïve to think that Punjab cricket association chief I.S. Bindra’s clout with the board nowadays did not have anything to do with the selection of the Punjab captain Mongia.

On both occasions, the guy who suffered was Zaheer Khan. When Ganguly was included, Zaheer missed out and now, he again has to sit out despite some good performances in the county circuit. Wonder why More and co didn’t talk about Tendulkar’s all-round abilities?

Not that Mongia is a bad player. He is a competent batsman and has proved good for India on a few occasions. In fact, there are enough batsmen knocking at the doors and whoever is picked is likely to do well. It’s a bit of a Russian roulette after some of them pick themselves. There couldn’t have been much argument among the selectors over selecting Dhoni, Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid of course and Yuvraj. Suresh Raina also will have to come in while Kaif has been like the curate’s egg.

The case of Anil Kumble is the most baffling. While not selecting him for the Sri Lanka series, the selectors have said that he may come in for the Challenger series at home and by extension for the World Cup. Many have already asked why five pace bowlers for the slow pitches of Sri Lanka?

Selectors expressed worry over the performances of fast bowlers and yet left out Zaheer Khan. For a time after Javagal Srinath retired, it seemed as if Zaheer would be the spearhead for some time. But now, he doesn’t find a place in the side even though they have picked five of them. It cannot but be a sign that the selectors now have a good crop to select from. Just look at those who have been discarded: Zaheer, Ashish Nehra (God knows if he is fit) and Laxmipathi Balaji.