Zeenews Bureau
Adelaide, Jan 23: The selection committee showed the door to the playing four of Yuvraj Singh, Wasim Jaffer, VRV Singh and Pankaj Singh as they were not named in the final twelve for the fourth and last Test match. Spinner Harbhajan Singh and Dinesh Karthick have been recalled in the squad and the final toss up between the offie and the stumper will be decided before the match.
Opening batsman Wasim Jaffer, who aggregated just 49 from his 6 innings in the series at an average of 8.16, has been a major disappointment for the visitors. Much was expected from the Mumbai southpaw after his prolific performances against Pakistan in the home series, prior to the Aussie tour.
Stumper Dinesh Karthick is expected to open the innings with a rejuvenated Virender Sehwag who forced his way into the Test team with an excellent all-round performance in Perth. With some immaculately executed stroke play at the start of the Indian innings, he denied the Aussie bowler’s any early initiative.
Also making a comeback on the spinner friendly Adelaide Oval track is off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, in his first competitive Test since the infamous Sydney controversy.
Harbhajan, who missed the Perth Test, where India played three seamers, will be looking forward to another lip-smacking encounter with the Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who he has dismissed three times in the series.
Yuvraj Singh, who was dropped after the Sydney test after his lackluster performances on the tour so far, will be warming the bench for the final Test as well. Giving him company would be rookie pacers Pankaj Singh and VRV Singh, who head for home after the Test match without even getting a look-in.
Going into the final Test, India trail Australia 1-2. The hosts had won the first two Tests at Melbourne and Sydney, while the visitors pulled back one at Perth.
However, India can draw some encouragement from the fact that the last time the two sides had locked horns in Adelaide in 2003, India had come out trumps.
The 12 member Indian squad for the Adelaide Test is as follows:
Anil Kumble (captain), MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthick, Rahul Dravid,
Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Irfaan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh and Ishant Sharma.
