FINALLY, THE beans have been spilled and it is clear that Sehwag and Zaheer will not be travelling with the team to Sri Lanka and South Africa. The 15-man squad declared in Chennai on Sunday came as a formal stamp on this speculation and also attested to rife speculation pertaining to Dravid’s re-inclusion in the Blue Brigade after little less than two years. Rohit Sharma’s exclusion was unremarkable, although Ojha must have taken the same treatment meted out to him with a pinch of salt. Besides, it was nice to see Amit Mishra being rewarded for some impressive performances in the limited number of tests that he has played. However, if selecting these 15 men was a Gordian knot to cut, MSD and Gary Kirsten must realise that an even bigger task is staring at them - finding the right mix of 11 players out of the 15 will be a mammoth task, especially when you are touring two nations as geographically different as Sri Lanka and South Africa, within a span of less than a month.

Although the opening spots remain secure for Tendulkar and Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik will remain a strong contender in case either of the two fails, owing to his fine knocks in the last series in the Caribbean. The biggest bone of contention will, however, be the number three spot, with Dravid, Dhoni and Raina bargaining hard for it. While Raina’s improper technique against the short ball was well exposed during the T20 World Cup in England, not many would disagree when I say that playing Dravid at a spot other than this would put an even bigger question mark on the decision of his inclusion. Besides, it is quite obvious that a lot of floating will take place in the batting order under different circumstances and if congeniality prevails and the team needs quick runs, Dhoni might not hesitate to promote himself and demote his former captain. Nevertheless, Dravid remains the front-runner for this spot.

With Yuvraj playing at his best, the number four spot will unequivocally go into his kitty, despite Raina futilely vying for it because of his possible ouster from the number three spot. Quite understandably, number five and six seems to be safe havens for Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan respectively, and therefore, the eventual inference is that either you drop Raina or play him at number seven; the former sounds more rational. For Raina, it might be a bitter pill to swallow since he was one of the leading run-getters in the recently concluded IPL, but it is to be understood that the game is not about names and records, it is more about who suits which spot. Perhaps Dhoni can allude to the classic example that was set by Sri Lanka’s former captain Mahela Jayawardene, who tipped Russell Arnold for the number seven slot throughout the 2007 World Cup, in spite of having someone as proficient and majestic as Marvan Attapattu on the bench, because of the same reason. In that case, Abhishek Nayar seems to be the perfect number seven in situations when India wants to go in for only four specialist bowlers, owing to his hard-hitting skills, decent bowling prowess and the loads of promise that he showed during the IPL.

The bowling department seems pretty much sorted out with the likes of Harbhajan, Ishant and RP Singh being likely permanents. However, a couple of problems will emanate from this section as well. Since Zaheer will be missing in action, India will miss a pace spearhead and Ishant’s rather patchy form of late does not instil much confidence. In such a scenario, Dhoni might have to bank upon his close friend RP Singh. Besides, choosing the fourth bowler will mean a choice amongst Mishra, Nehra and Praveen Kumar. Under spinner-friendly conditions, the decision might become easier with Mishra taking away the honours, otherwise there is very little to choose between the tall, lanky Daredevil and the short yet crafty Royal Challenger, although the latter stands a slightly better chance. All in all, a lot of hectic brainstorming and some stern yet pragmatic decisions await the team management. Nevertheless, it must also be understood that the euphoria of victory and success will wash away the scars, if any, of these stern decisions, and that is what even the team members will have to realise.