Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar on Thursday came out in support of senior players in the Indian team, saying barring one or two all have done well on the ongoing tour of South Africa.
His comments come in the wake of the team's third successive defeat against South Africa in as many matches, when they were bowled out for 163 while chasing 243 in the fourth one-day international on Wednesday.
Talking to newspersons after the selection committee meeting in Delhi on Thursday, Vengsarkar said former captain Sourav Ganguly's inclusion should strengthen the team's batting.
"Some of youngsters have not performed as well as expected," he said.
He also revealed that coach Greg Chappell and captain Rahul Dravid had been briefed about Ganguly's inclusion and both had no reservations about it.
"We have selected the team for India and not anyone else," came Vengsarkar's reply, when asked if Chappell had approved of Ganguly's inclusion.
He felt lack of match practice is the basic reason for the team's poor performance.
He also did not rule out Ganguly being included in the team that will play eight one-day internationals in a home series involving the West Indies and Pakistan in January.
"If he does well on the tour, we would carry on from there," he said.
Talk about Ganguly being recalled to the Test squad had been doing rounds since the last couple of days, particularly after the team's poor showing in the ODI series in South Africa and left parties' demand for his inclusion in the side. The 34-year-old had stepped down as Bengal captain on Wednesday evening, giving strong indications that he was certain to make it to the Test side.
"There were no directions or instructions from Board president Sharad Pawar to the national selectors, headed by Dilip Vengsarkar. We discussed only the performance of the Indian team, which had not done well in the one-day matches in South Africa," BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said, when asked why Pawar wanted to meet the selectors at his residence hours before the selection of the Test squad.
The names of S Badrinath and Akash Chopra also came up for discussion during the hour-and-a-half meeting of the selectors, also comprising of Ranjiv Biswal, Sanjay Jagdale, Venkatapathy Raju and Bhupinder Singh Sr.
"Badrinath is a young player and still needs exposure," Vengsarkar said.
He added that the young fast bowlers in the team need the guidance of a bowling coach.
"It is up to the BCCI to decide how early they can appoint one," he said.
On Laxman's appointment as vice-captain, Vengsarkar said it was not surprising since Sehwag was made vice-captain for the one-day internationals only.
"This is a signal for every player that they should not take their place in the side for granted," he said.
Vengarkar will leave for South Africa on December10.