Gautam Gambhir

When the selectors sit down later today to select the Indian squad that will travel to the West Indies, they will be looking to pick out a team that wears a different look from the one that won the World Cup a couple of months ago. After the hectic World Cup and IPL, the senior players are expected to opt for a rest giving the selectors a chance to inject fresh blood.

Also Read: India Tour Of West Indies 2011 – Complete Schedule

MS Dhoni hasn’t yet confirmed his participation in the ODI series and if he misses out Gautam Gambhir is the likely choice to lead the team in the Caribbean. Gambhir led a second string squad to a 5-0 whitewash over the Kiwis late last year and he would be expected to shoulder the responsibility again if Dhoni isn’t travelling.

Sachin Tendulkar is expected to give the ODI series a miss along with Virender Sehwag who is ruled out due to injury thus opening up two slots at the top of the order. Although his highest score in the last 11 innings reads 33, Murali Vijay may most likely the man to get a look in to open with Gautam Gambhir. Dhoni’s unavailability would also mean that Parthiv Patel will travel as the keeper and could also be used as an opening batsman. Another name that would definitely be discussed in the meeting tomorrow is Ambati Rayudu who has impressed one and all at the top of the order for the Mumbai Indians. Rayudu, apart from being a specialist batsman, would also provide flexibility as a backup keeper. Dinesh Karthik, Naman Ojha and Wriddhiman Saha haven’t done enough with the bat to expect a call to fly to the Caribbean as a wicketkeeper. Another name that would be widely debated across the meeting would be Manoj Tewary, who has played the finisher’s role to perfection for the Kolkata Knight Riders while Rohit Sharma is most likely to return to the squad after finishing among the leading run scorers in the Ranji tournament last season while the selectors would also want to give Badrinath an opportunity to prove himself at the highest level.

Zaheer Khan is very unlikely to travel with the team which means Praveen Kumar, who missed the World Cup due to injury, will return to the squad. Ashish Nehra is yet to recover from a finger injury and Ishant Sharma is most likely to replace him in the squad. Sreesanth looks like an unlikely choice to travel after a disastrous World Cup while Vinay Kumar has been knocking on the selection committee’s doors for sometime now. Harbhajan Singh has confirmed his availability for the entire tour while Piyush Chawla looks unlikely to make the cut this time. While Pragyan Ojha should be expecting a call in his place, don’t be surprised if the selectors opt for the young Iqbal Abdulla. Rahul Sharma’s heroics in the IPL might not be sufficient to fetch him a place as the third spinner with Ashwin having done nothing wrong to lose his place. Amit Mishra, Lakshmipathi Balaji and Ravindra Jadeja are expected to be the other names discussed in the meeting which also sees new coach Duncan Fletcher fly down and make his first contribution to Indian cricket.

Probable XV:

Gautam Gambhir (Captain), Murali Vijay, Parthiv Patel (Wicketkeeper), Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma.

Tags: Caribbean, Cricket, Gautam Gambhir, IND, ODI Cricket, Team India, West Indies, WI, World Champions