Welcome home Mr Tendulkar

By John Cheeran
The Indian cricket team announced by Chairman of selectors Kiran More on Thursday for the tri-nation one-day series in Sri Lanka is possibly the one that does not invite any agitated responses from any quarter.
The inclusion of a fit-again Sachin Tendulkar was a foregone conclusion. Welcome home Mr Tendulkar. Peace prevails for the time being.
It would have been a stormy selection committee meeting had India come back from the West Indies without clinching the Test series. And remember India lost the one-day series in West Indies 1-4, that too after winning the first match thanks to a brilliant century from skipper Rahul Dravid.
But the Test triumph at Sabina Park, Kingston, has strengthened Dravid as the leader and Greg Chappell as the coach. A call for change in captaincy and for the dismissal of Chappell as coach had to be abandoned. Even the inconsistent batting performances from the tried and tested are forgotten for the moment.
Sourav Ganguly has become history as far as playing for India is concerned. Not even his brothers in Bengal are bothered about the dead horse now. The last I heard on the Maharaja is that he can't score past even five runs an innings for Northamptonshire. What a fall!
But I'm surprised to see that Team India has not gone for some crucial changes which they should have done in view of the World Cup campaign.
I would have picked Anil Kumble in the team and would have given the second best batsman in India, VVS Laxman, an opportunity to play in the one-dayers again. It is a pity that instead selectors have gone for the utility value of Dinesh Mongia. This only shows the clout wielded by the Punjab Cricket Association and Inderjit Singh Bindra.
Selectors have kept their faith in young pacers Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, RP Singh andMunaf Patel. The announcement must be a huge relief for Pathan after a challenging series in West Indies that played havoc with his confidence levels.
Indian squad: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Suresh Raina, Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Dinesh Mongia, Rudra Pratap Singh.
Schedule:Aug. 14: Sri Lanka v South Africa (day/night), Aug. 16: Sri Lanka v India (day/night)Aug. 19: India v South Africa (day), Aug. 21: Sri Lanka v South Africa (day)Aug. 24: Sri Lanka v India (day/night)Aug. 26: India v South Africa (day/night)Aug. 29: Final (day/night)