Mar 16 2009
Cricket: Indian Test Team
India and New Zealand cricket teams will clash at Hamilton for the first test match from 18 March to 22 March 2009. The Indian team for the first test match will be selected from the following players:
1. Virender Sehwag
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. VVS Laxman
6. Yuvraj Singh
7. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain and wicket-keeper)
8. Harbhajan Singh
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Munaf Patel
12. Dhawal Kulkarni
13. Lakshmipathy Balaji
14. Amit Mishra
15. M Vijay
16. Dinesh Karthik
Sehwag, Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman are likely to occupy the batsmen slot, Dhoni as the wicket-keeper and the bowlers will be Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. That leaves two slots, one batsman and one bowler, if Dhoni prefers to have six batsmen and four specialist bowlers, a more likely combination. Yuvraj Singh should play as the sixth batsman.
The only bowler’s slot left might be a toss up between Munaf Patel, new comer Dhawal Kulkarni and the comeback player Lakshmipathy Balaji.
