By your logic we ought to select the top run-scorers and top wicket takers in the domestic arena and put them in the squad. Thats preposterous.
Umm...no it isn't. 80% of the selections made for International sides world wide are done that way. In India alone it's how Sachin, VVS, Pujara, Harbhajan, Ojha, Sharma, Ishant, and I'm sure a few others got picked...
Domestic Cricket, A Team and U-19 team are the basis on which players are picked, with a handful being picked on potential or the selectors liking what they saw.
ZoraxDoom added 4 Minutes and 12 Seconds later...
@ User2010
May I ask you the same w.r.t Parthiv Patel ? None of the keepers that have been selected are good. My only point is - if at all you are to select a keeper, you better select one who has been tested for a longer period- in this case KKD. Patel-he was kicked out cause his keeping was not up to the mark. The last two ODIs haven't exactly shown us as to how has he improved.
Your defence for Patel starts off with the fact that he is a good bat. What we actually need is a person to hold on to the balls. We have quite a few batsmen in the team.
To some extent I do agree with relentless_rock ,we don't need a keeper to gobble up an extra place. If at all the captain gets injured, some one can fill in.
Patel has prior Nat experience...where he batted quite well at the Test level against some pretty good bowling attacks. His batting ability at Nat level was never under pressure, he always looked like he could deliver the goods. At one time it seemed he could make the India side on batting alone.
If his keeping has improved from inconsistent to decent, then he is definitely the second best choice in India. KDK has been pwning at Domestic level, but always fails to convert at Nat level. True he's been shuffled around a lot, but he hasn't made the most of his chances. Parthiv has.
Added bonus with Parthiv in the squad is that we don't need Vijay anymore are a reserve opener. Shewag, Sachin and Gambhir at 3. If either of Sehwag or Sachin get injured, Parthiv can open. If Gambhir's injured, then I supposed Parthiv could bat at 3. And Parthiv has been in better touch than Vijay too.
And seriously, we need a reserve keeper if Dhoni gets injured. It's just insane to go to a World Cup without a reserve wicketkeeper.
2 keepers, 6 bowlers, 6 batsmen, 1 allrounder. Ideal squad balance. MSD, Parthiv, Ojha, Bhajji, Zak, Munaf, Praveen, Nehra, Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Raina, Kohli, Yuvi, Yusuf.
Yusuf Pathan isn't much of an allrounder, but he's probably going to get picked anyways. I'd rather go for an extra batsman, which in this case would be Rohit Sharma or Murali Vijay (they won't go for someone uncapped and I figure Dravid will almost certainly not be picked). Plus Yusuf's fairly handy as a third spinner in Indian conditions.
