New Delhi: New thinking, new faces. That seems to be the mantra spelling a likely end of the road in Test cricket for former favourites Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja. Speaking after the team for the Sri Lanka tour was picked here on Thursday, chief selector Sandeep Patil did not spell it out in as many words but certainly seemed to suggest that under new skipper Virat Kohli, the days of the two all-rounders (Raina, 18 Tests, 768 runs, 11 wickets; Jadeja, 12 Tests, 364 runs, 46 wickets) are coming to an end.
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“There will always be a change in the mix with change of captain,” Patil pointed out when asked specifically about the two Chennai Super Kings stalwarts.
“Every captain has his own outlook and perspective when he is leading the side. Someone may be an offensive captain, someone may be a defensive captain. But yes, approach of the captain defines that particular period," he said.
"We expect Virat to do well but we cannot predict the future. When Sachin (Tendulkar), Dada (Sourav Ganguly), Rahul and VVS (Laxman) retired, we never thought we would get immediate replacements but we got them,” Patil added.
Patil was pleased with the form senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had shown since his recall to national duty. “Age will never be a criteria but form and fitness will be. Harbhajan has made a strong comeback. As I repeatedly said, it is our job to represent every domestic player. We selectors are happy how Harbhajan has comeback. We expect our spin attack, Bhajji, Ashwin and Amit (Mishra) to deliver,” he said.
