Discussions on selection seem to be centered around the pace attack again. Let's look at other factors, shall we? There's that aspect of balance that needs to be addressed, then getting the right fielding unit in the game, effective medium-pacers for the middel-overs and closing stages and shadows for the top six batsmen, in case of emergencies such as the last one.
The ODI selection should now have few Test regulars in it, and have a different look to it. Every player should have fielding basics covered- even relatively sluggish ones like RP Singh and Praveen have got a few aspects right, while Munaf has none. It may involve dropping some of the supposedly best ODI players in the team, but the message must go out. Fielding is a prime aspect of ODI cricket and should not be ignored.
There is talk of conserving key bowlers (such as Ishant) for Tests by keeping them out of ODI cricket. That should be thought about, given how many useless ODIs are played. You can also look at lower order units of Australia (Mitch, Lee, Hauritz after Watto and Hopes), South Africa (all bowlers can score runs bar Steyn and Langeveldt), New Zealand (Vettori, Franklin, Mills and even Bond) and Sri Lanka (Thushara, Kulasekara after Matthews). India should have a lower-order like that. Unfortunately, some bowlers (RP, Ishant, Nehra) can't bat for toffees, and yet formed 9-10-11 in a match, following Harbhajan, who's taken virtually no effort to improve his batting.
In such cases, the Pathans, Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Mishra and behind them, Nayar, Bhatia, Ashwin, Jadeja, and further back Dhiraj Goswami and Saxena come handy. The ODI bowling stocks should have bowlers such as these, who will score useful runs. These runs, coming from three or more, will add up to something substantial.
While many have given up on the Pathans, their utility in limited-overs cricket cannot be discounted. Let's not forget, Irfan was once a leading pace bowler at a young age, so he can't be out of it completely. He's recovering from an injury, and if he finishes a season well, he should be back in contention, at least as ODI specialist. Yusuf will be useful as a spinner who can bat a bit, rather than the reverse. Praveen seems to be more of a stuntman than a batsman, so he shouldn't be released until the final overs, which is a key factor. Alone, he's useless- he's no Kallis. Three like him will make an effective Lee-Johnson-Hauritz lower-order. Mishra doesn't have the List-A stats in his favour, but with nine FC 50s, he's also an option. Chawla's off the boil, but should be back. The selectors should stop looking for an Indian Jacques Kallis; he doesn't really exist. Other teams manage with groups of lesser players, so India should too.
So a Test bowling combination of Zaheer-Ishant-Nehra-Harbhajan-Mishra-Munaf-Ojha will be fine, while for ODIs they can have Zaheer-Irfan-Praveen-Mishra-Yusuf-Nehra-Chawla in the squad. They can get in their Test stalwarts into the ODIs in more important events (a tour of South Africa, a series against Australia, Champions Trophy, and finally, World Cup). Gvien how much ODI cricket the Indians play, a typical English/Kiwi team loaded with multi-skilled players and athletes is the way to go.
As for shadowing the top six, the TN trio of Mukund, Vijay and Badrinath should be in contention. They field better, they run between wickets better and hit big shots better. There's even a spot for Dhawan, going by recent performances. I don't buy the too-flashy approach; this is not Test cricket! We've seen several flashy players such as Dilshan and Brendon do well for their teams, so why not pick one such for India? Their relatively conservative players have let them down in the Champs Trophy anyway. Besides, those three didn't need the Challenger nonsense to stake a claim- they've done consistently well in the last few seasons. A place for Kaif shouldn't be ruled out either.
