Badri will have to wait: Wadekar

Mumbai: The 15-man squad for the first two Tests against Australia has sprung up a few surprises and we got a few former India cricketers to get their initial reactions.

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“Badrinath will have to wait for his chance. You cannot have a player of Ganguly’s class and experience sit in the reserves. I feel Piyush Chawla was not picked in the squad because captain Kumble is still in the team but Amit Mishra provides more variety than Chawla and is a good choice as third spinner.”

“Going by the reputation of the pitch, I certainly feel that India should field three spinners for the Bangalore Test. I reckon that picking Ganguly could have something to do with playing three spinners since he is capable of rolling his arm over with the new ball.”

“Ganguly deserves to be there. The youngsters have just not done enough to displace him. They have to learn the art of Test cricket and you cannot blood in youngsters in a big series like Australia. You need to persevere with the experienced players.”

“Amit Mishra’s selection is a huge surprise for me. I feel Piyush Chawla is a much better bowler and would have done better against the Australians. Chawla is also a very useful batsman lower down the order and would have been a good choice.”

“Ganguly will surely play the first Test at Bangalore because you cannot have a player of his calibre in the 15-man squad and not play him. It would almost be an insult to such a great player.”

“Badrinath getting selected is a clear case of a batsman earning his dues for scoring heavily in first-class cricket. Kaif, Yuvraj, Rohit and Raina still have some work to do before getting into the Test squad. I feel Badrinath’s selection is a good one.”

“It is a step behind for India. Batsmen like Rohit Sharma and Badrinath will lose hope like this and ask themselves when they will get a chance. The reason India lost the Test series to Sri Lanka was because of the hard singles and twos run by the Lankans. Our middle-order batsmen are slow movers and going back to Ganguly is a poor decision.”

“There is not much to select for an Indian Test team. They are the same players and it is almost as if Badrinath and co. have to wait for one of them to retire. Ganguly will surely play in the final XI and it is a shame because our fielding standards will get affected.”

“I feel Mishra’s selection is a good one because he can work as a back-up option for Kumble. However Kumble is not the kind of cricketer to fake an injury. Yuvraj Singh being ignored is a shame because he is such a good player but he is too inconsistent.”

“Overall it’s a good squad and I feel they must go in with three spinners and attack Australia.”

“Ganguly will surely play in the XI. You can’t ignore him from a 15-man squad. However I am surprised that he did not attend the camp in Bangalore with the rest of the team. It is sad to see a talented player like Yuvraj missing out yet again. However it is his own fault since he hasn’t gained the confidence of the selectors for so many years now.”

“I am extremely happy to see Amit Mishra back in the team. He has worked enormously hard in the domestic circuit and deserves this recall to the side after so long. His attitude in the IPL was great too and he can stake a claim here if given an opportunity.”

“I feel that with this squad, they should go in with five batsmen, one wicketkeeper, two fast bowlers and three spinners. It will be the perfect combination to beat Australia. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is good enough to bat at six and Kumble can do the job at seven.”