Who comes in? It’s anybody’s guess!

The team management would certainly like to give him a chance for he hardly got an opportunity after impressing in the T20 World Cup, reports Subhash Rajta.

MS Dhoni made it clear that he would like to give the maximum possible chance to his bench strength in the last match. Hence, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and Harbhajan Singh have been rested for the last game.

HT Image

But the team management, refrained from naming the final XI on the eve of the match leading to speculation that one more senior player — logically a batsman — could be dropped since all the three rested players are frontline bowlers. It means that Sreesanth, Murali Kartik and Praveen Kumar could get a look in.

Now, that leaves Rohit Sharma on the bench, but the team management would certainly like to give him a chance for he hardly got an opportunity after impressing in the T20 World Cup. And that brings us to the big question: who will sit out if the youngster is played? Cricket manager Lalchand Rajput ducked the question when asked if Sourav Ganguly was the one who would be rested, saying they would decide the final XI in the morning.

Now in case Ganguly is dropped, as is being speculated, how much sense would it make in the light of his personal form, the situation the series is in and the ensuring Test series? Probably not much, for he hasn't been in a great form in the series and given that India have already won the series and he is part of the Test squad, he would desperately need to spend some time in the middle and get some runs under his belt before the Tests get underway.

The other option — and the logical one — is obviously Sachin Tendulkar, given his great form. For that matter Yuvraj Singh, who too has been in roaring form, could also be rested, except that he might not get a look in for the Tests and might want to maximise playing chances.