Sreesanth dropped from ICC Champions Trophy final squad

Sreesanth's omission from the Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, and RP Singh's inclusion in his place, was the only surprising aspect of the announcement by the BCCI selectors a while ago.

It was always going to be tough for Sourav Ganguly to make it to the final list of 14 from the initial list of 30. Anil Kumble was unlucky stupid enough to hurt himself while playing for Surrey. Kumble had a great chance of returning to one-dayers. Exactly what was he doing playing first-class and limited overs cricket for Surrey, when his place in the test side is never going to be challenged until he retires? What he ought to have done was to play only the limited overs game for Surrey. This was an open invitation for some mishap to occur!

Meanwhile, Zaheer Khan must be wondering what he needs to do to get back into the national side.

Returning to Sreesanth v/s RP Singh, there is actually little to choose between the two. Not much of a difference in terms of potential and ability. In terms of numbers, RP Singh fares much better than Sreesanth (avg. 29.5, econ rate 4.9, strike rate 36 against 36, 5.7 and 38 respectively). While RP Singh was outstanding in Pakistan and against Sri Lanka, Sreesanth bowled excellently against England.

Maybe Sreesanth's lack of wickets in West Indies (2/158 in 29 overs from 3 games) was what tipped the balance in RP Singh's favour.

Oh, and for what it's worth, Sreesanth will play in the tri-series in Malaysia, also featuring Australia and West Indies.

Labels: 2006 champions trophy, champions trophy