New Team India

Finally, the Team India selectors have thought it wise to bank on the genuine all-round abilities of Jai Prakash Yadav, who has been delivering the goods consistently at the domestic level, both with the bat and the ball. And though the two new faces in the squad, Suresh Raina and Yalaka Venugopal Rao are primarily batsmen, they are nonetheless, basically utility cricketers - ideal to fit into the limited over scenario. But, Dinesh Mongia, a consistent performer both at the Indian and the English domestic circuits, has all the reasons to feel frustrated, especially since he has added reliability to his batting and guile to his bowling. The exclusion of Ajit Agarkar from the squad should send the signal to him that Team India, with its eyes firmly set on the World Cup 2007, is looking beyond erratic bowling and inconsistent batting. V.V.S. Laxman deserves all the kudos for clawing his way back into the limited-over squad by virtue of his recent form with the bat. However, it is alarming that India is yet to find a reasonable long-term replacement for Anil Kumble. The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) should take the help of veterans like Srinivas Venktaraghavan, Erapalli Prasanna and Bishen Singh Bedi to train spinners and churn out new talents in the art of spin, which unfortunately, somehow, is becoming a declining art in India.