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NEWS India-South Africa Series 2006>Kumble – A selection headache ahead of one-dayers? 16th Nov 2006 20.14 IST By Agencies Ace leg-spinner Anil Kumble is keen to take roots in India's one-day plans against South Africa but it can cause some serious selection headache for the team management on the present tour. Kumble is sure to be thrown in the one-day mix and this would not please either the middle-order batsmen or medium-pacers as the mighty leg-spinner's inclusion would necessarily mean that India would go in one-dayers with five bowlers, thus shortening the batting line-up.
Harbhajan has snared 24 victims from 20 games at an average of 29.17 and an economy rate of 3.91 per over, one of the best of the present calendar year. He is seen vital to India's strategy in South Africa and more so for the slow wickets of the Caribbean where the next World Cup is scheduled in March-April 2007. India would also not be able to play anything less than three medium-pacers in any of the forthcoming one-day games in South Africa. The usage of 20 overs in Power Play with field restrictions makes three medium-pacers in any composition of a side a must. To turn one's back to this stark reality would be foolhardy on pitches which favour bounce, pace and movement. With Ajit Agarkar likely to get a nod because of his consistency and Munaf Patel to be rewarded for his impressive progress, the competition for the third medium-pacer's slot would be a three-way lottery between Irfan Pathan , S Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan and could cause the team management many sleepless nights. The other alternative of course would be to keep Kumble under wraps and persist with the four-bowler theory but that again defies logic. Kumble has been chosen only because the selectors wanted to give him a chance to ease himself into the one-day team ahead of the world cup. He cannot be taken on a touring party and not played -- not at least now. It would also put enormous strain on the likes of Dinesh Mongia , Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina in India's middle order. Only two can make it to the side and occasionally just one given the imbalance Kumble's presence could cause. The anxious crease on their foreheads - at least in case of Kaif and Raina -- would only get deeper and narrower now that national selector Venkatapathy Raju has let it be known that it could be a make or break tour for them. Much of this problem of course could be ironed out if Pathan is able to do justice to his position as an all-rounder in the squad. If he can bowl his 10 overs with sustained accuracy, reasonable pace and, more importantly, accompanied with swing, then most of India's concerns would be unfounded. But Pathan has done little to ease such discomfort even though every known expert is predicting that the pitches in South Africa would cover up for his lack of pace. One can only hope that Kumble's presence does not leave long faces in the dressing room. Also View In-Depth Coverage: India-South Africa Series 2006 Team Page: India Team Page: South Africa | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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