Virender Sehwag axed from Test squad

08 March, 2013

Virender Sehwag was on the knife's edge when the selection committee met yesterday (Thursday) to select the Indian team for the third and the fourth Test match against Australia. Sehwag's inclusion or exclusion was talk of the town. When the names of the team players were announced, the inevitable had happened: Sehwag faced the axe.

Sehwag lost his deserved place in the squad with his string of inconsistent scores. His recent scores in the last four Test matches read 23, 49, 0, 2, 19 and 6 runs. But, no replacement has been made for the Delhi player and the squad has just been trimmed to 14 players. Gautam Gambhir even after scoring a century before the first Test match against the touring Aussies failed to make a comeback. In all probability, it is Shikhar Dhawan, who would be given the chance to open the innings with Murli Vijay. Indian fans would find it difficult to recollect the last time, Indian team opening pair in the Test matches did not feature either Sehwag or Gambhir.

There were some talks stating that Sehwag would not be dropped from the team, as India had already won the series and they could have used the rest of the Test matches to get the batsmen cracking and help him get back to form. But, the selection committee felt otherwise and thought it could be better to give chance to younger blood.

Harbhajan Singh, in spite of putting up unimpressive performances, was lucky to escape the axe. The remaining last two Test matches might well be his last if he once again fails to perform. It is now or never for Harbhajan, as well. Sehwag has clearly stated that he trusts his game and is not thinking of retiring yet. He is expected to fight back to get a slot in the Indian team.

But, if the new opening pair comes up with a good show, then it might be difficult for Sehwag to make a comeback, who has been given a number of chances and has every time failed to live up to the expectations.