New Delhi, August 13: Rahul Dravid, out of favour in ODIs since the last two years, is all set to make a comeback into the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy, scheduled to be played between September 22 and October 5. The team will be selected on Sunday.
Sources close to the selection committee informed Zeecric.com that Dravid is likely to replace struggling Rohit Sharma in the middle-order, which has been India’s major cause of concern in recent times.
It has also been learnt that selectors want stability in the volatile middle-order and no one is better suited than Rahul Dravid to address the problem. Otherwise a defensive batsman, Dravid’s good show in the second edition of IPL may have helped him to make a comeback after two years of wilderness from the shorter version of the game.
But the main deliberation in the selection meeting is expected to be regarding the fitness of the blistering opener Virender Sehwag, whose pull out from the T20 World Cup due to injury created a lot of furore.
The board would assess Sehwag’s fitness on August 15. But selectors would not risk him in the squad unless he is fully fit, due to the strict replacement rule in the Champions Trophy.
Suresh Raina, who also missed the West Indies tour due to an injury, is likely to make a comeback into the side. Abhishek Nayar who did not get enough opportunity to showcase his talent in the Caribbean Island is likely to be retained as the selectors want a pace-bowling all-round option in the absence of Irfan Pathan.
Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh will form the pace bowling unit in the absence of injured Zaheer Khan. Though UP pacer Sudeep Tyagi may be the dark horse after his superb performance in IPL-II and recently concluded Emerging Players’ tournament Down Under.
Any surprise in the spin department is unlikely as Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha are the likely choice. However, leg-spinner Amit Mishra may get a look-in in place of Pragyan Ojha.
–Agencies