India seem to have made a habit of surprising with their baffling team compositions. Today was no different with the inclusion of SS Das at the top of the order with Sachin Tendulkar and Sanjay Bangar injured.
If the move was an effort by the team management to mock the selectors for not including Das in the probables list, it was futile because he cannot be inducted even if he makes a hundred today, never mind the fact that he didn't and was dismissed for a sketchy 30.
It would have made more sense to include fast bowler Rakesh Patel - who is in the probables list - and Ajit Agarkar as the all-rounder at number seven.
Another option would have been to include Parthiv Patel as the wicket-keeper and probably ask him to open the innings --- if the team management thought that he was equipped to open in Tests (he opened in the second innings of the second Test), the one-dayers should be a cakewalk. With the selectors most likely to include an extra wicket keeper besides first-choice Rahul Dravid, it made sense to give Patel a few games before the World Cup.
- Starting Trouble - Prem Panicker
