Mumbai: The All India Senior Selection Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) yesterday named an unchanged side for the third cricket Test against England, to be played in Kolkata starting on December 5.
India won the first Test at Ahmedabad comfortably but suffered a humiliating 10-wicket loss to England in the second Test here.
Unfazed, the national selectors persisted with the same squad giving under-fire star players another chance to prove their worth.
“The teams for the fourth Test and the T20 International series, will be picked later,” BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement.
Meanwhile, former skipper Sourav Ganguly yesterday said there “could be lot of changes” in Indian cricket if the home side lost at Eden Gardens
Ganguly suggested that Indian skipper Dhoni should not opt for a turner in the coming Test match against England.
“Dhoni should not seek a turner. If the ball turns, the England spinners will create problems for the Indian batsmen. And if India lose two back to back Tests then there will be lot of changes in Indian cricket,” he said.
India went down by ten wickets in the second Test of the ongoing series inside four days at Mumbai, with English spinners Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann taking 16 wickets between them.
Regarding Sachin Tendulkar, who is yet to be among runs in the series, Ganguly said: “Yes, his reflexes have gone down. But that is bound to happen with age. But what I feel is that Tendulkar is out of form and needs runs.
“I want to earnestly believe that he will get runs in the two remaining Tests,” the former opening batsman added.
The talismanic former Indian left hander said it was for Tendulkar, and not for the selectors, to decide when he will quit international cricket.
India Squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Ajinkya Rahane, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Zaheer Khan. ians
