Dravid dropped, Sehwag recalled to play Pakistan

The national selectors are meeting tomorrow to pick the squad for the first two games of the ODI home series against Pakistan starting next month, but large-scale changes may be ruled out.

The selectors will spend some time on the question mark over former India captain Rahul Dravid, who finished the recent home ODI series against Australia — India lost 2-4 — with an average of 10.2. But it is believed that they will finally fall back on the age-old cricketing logic of ‘form being temporary and class permanent’.

It means that Dravid will stay as part of India’s Big 3 — along with Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. It also means that Dilip Vengsarkar and Co will have to turn a blind eye to the creditable batting performances they have been watching during the Challenger series in Ahmedabad.

Moving on, Gautam Gambhir, after his Man-of-the-Match performance against Australia in the T20 game and his 73 from 74 balls today for India Reds, seems certain to be redrafted in the side though that’s where the selectors will find themselves in a spot.

Before today, S Badrinath, who replaced the injured Gambhir during the Australia series, was expected to be the weak link but his fine showing for India Red today — 82 from 79 balls — has changed things. .

Adding another twist to the selection muddle is the return of Suresh Raina, who scored 92 from 100 balls in the only Challenger game he has played. And in case former opener Virender Sehwag happens to be among the runs for India Blues tomorrow, the selectors’ job will only get tougher.

Besides, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik had come up with match-winning performances in India’s last two games at Mumbai against Australia — the seventh ODI and the Twenty20 game. And the pacers Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and S Sreesanth are automatic picks while Irfan Pathan has cemented his place as an all-rounder. But it’s learnt that UP’s bits-and-pieces player Praveen Kumar, who has now taken nine wickets from two games, will figure in the discussions tomorrow.