Mumbai: The newly-elected selection committee, chaired by former Krishnamachari Srikkanth, gave a new lease of life to former India captain Sourav Ganguly by including him in the 15-member squad for the first two Tests against the visiting Australians starting at Bangalore on October 9.
The selectors also opted for an untested leg spinner in Amit Mishra and Tamil Nadu batsman Subramaniam Badrinath for the Bangalore and Mohali Tests.
When the past selection panel’s chief Dilip Vengsarkar denied a berth to Ganguly in the Rest of India team in the just concluded Irani Cup tie, one expected that the stylish left-hander's career had come to an end.
However the present lot, who were chosen during the BCCI AGM on September 27, gave the southpaw a shot in the arm by including him for the first two Tests of the home series.
It is reliably learnt that Indian skipper Anil Kumble, who had successfully fought for Virender Sehwag's inclusion in the Test team last year, was instrumental in bringing back the 36-year-old Ganguly into the fold by arguing that to beat the No. 1 Test team in the world, India needed the experience of all the senior players and the present series was very important to experiment with young and inexperienced batsmen.
Both Kumble and Indian coach Gary Kirsten were flown in for the selection meeting from Bangalore, where they were attending a conditioning camp for the players. The meeting lasted more than two hours with Srikkanth and Kumble standing firmly behind Ganguly’s inclusion.
While Badrinath and Mishra got the selectors' nod, middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh was ignored yet again for the longer version of the game.
Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Karthik and Pragyan Ojha, who figured in the Indian squad during the last Test series against Sri Lanka, were omitted from the team announced by the board through a press release.
Virender Sehwag and Delhi teammate Gautam Gambhir are the two specialist openers in the squad and the duo has been in good form in recent times, which prompted the selectors not to opt for a reserve opener.
The middle order has a settled look with Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who also marks a return. But all these experienced batsmen will be under some pressure to perform particularly after their miserable show in the recent series against Sri Lanka.
Immediately after the team was announced, there was speculation that Ganguly had been given the opportunity for an 'honourable exit' but it could not be immediately confirmed whether the BCCI indeed had such plans.
The new team under Kumble has seven specialist batsmen, four seamers, three spinners and a wicketkeeper in vice-captain Dhoni.
Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who sat out of the recent tri-series against Sri Lanka because of an elbow injury, retained his place in the Test squad after being declared fit.
The selection of Ganguly reflects a new approach by the Srikkanth-led committee, which has banked on experience rather than grooming too many young players for the gruelling series against Australia.
Ganguly, who made a spectacular entry into Tests with a debut ton at Lord's in 1996, made a storming return to the five-day game in South Africa in late 2006 after losing his place earlier that year due to a fall-out with then coach Greg Chappell.
The classy left-hander amassed over 1100 runs with 239 his career-best score, against Pakistan in Bangalore in late 2007, at a fantastic average of 61.44 last year which compares favourably with his career average of 41.74 in 109 Tests.
Twenty-eight-year-old Badrinath was rewarded for his consistent performances in domestic cricket and India A engagements in recent times.
Badrinath has played only three ODIs and with a well-settled middle-order line-up, it appears extremely unlikely that he would get a chance to make his Test debut while Mishra, who has got the nod purely on the basis of his domestic and Indian Premier League (IPL) performances, might get a chance to make his Test debut if India opt to play three spinners at home.
Tamil Nadu skipper Badrinath has scored 4638 runs in 66 first-class matches at an impressive average of 55.21. Mishra's inclusion has come as a bit of a surprise as the leg-spinner has done nothing remarkable whenever he has been given an opportunity to play an international game, though his performance has been quite impressive in the past two domestic seasons.
The 25-year-old has played three ODIs, scalping three wickets, but in first-class cricket, he averages a decent 25.21 with 289 wickets in 75 matches.
Zaheer Khan will spearhead the pace bowling department which has Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel and Rudra Pratap Singh. Except for RP Singh, the other three performed impressively in the Irani Cup, where Ishant represented Ranji Trophy champions Delhi.
Indian squad for first two Tests: Anil Kumble (captain), MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, S Badrinath, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh, Munaf Patel.
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