Indian team for the upcoming Test series against England will be picked today and the most important decision that the selectors will have is to who to pick for the number six spot. Indian team recently lost two of their batting stalwarts in the form of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman and are looking to find the replacements for them.
 
Indian team management will be pretty happy with the way Cheteshwar Pujara played in the number three position against New Zealand. But Raina, who played in Laxman’s position failed, giving selectors a reason to worry about.
 
The number six spot is the only position that is open and the two favourite contenders for that spot are Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina. It is almost certain that both the players will be picked in the 15-member squad and one among the two will be picked to play at number six. And going by the recent performance, Yuvraj has a slight edge over Raina.
 
But one thing that everybody is ignoring is the fact that both Raina and Yuvraj have represented India before in Test matches and both have failed in white clothes. Still it’s amazing to see why they are the top contenders, keeping in mind that they haven’t done anything substantial in longer version of the game.
 
Yuvraj Singh played his first Test match way back in 2003 and since then has played 37 Test matches for India and his performance has been below par. His average in those matches has been just 34.8. Isn’t 37 Test matches enough to judge a player and shouldn’t India try some other player?
 
Coming to Raina, he has played 17 Test matches and his average has been 28.4. He failed miserably against England and then failed against New Zealand. Even then he is in the reckoning! Raina made his one-day debut way back in 2005 and so by no means is he a youngster in international circuit. He has been tested and he has failed.
 
In total the two players have played 54 Test matches and yet India is looking for a middle-order batsmen and that proves their inability in the longer format.
 
Now let’s talk about the options that India have. S Badrinath is not an option keeping in mind the age policy that the people here are obsessed with. So the best two options at the present moment are Manoj Tiwary and Ajinkya Rahane (Rohit Sharma is yet to make his Test debut but he first have to sort out his batting in shorter formats where he is a regular).
 
Both Tiwary and Rahane have not played a Test match and so one can’t predict how they will cope up with the pressure of playing in the most difficult format of the game.
 
Yuvraj, Raina have failed in international circuit so it will only be fair to compare these players on the basis of their performance in domestic circuit.
 
Yuvraj Singh has played 101 first class matches and his average is 45, Raina’s average is 42 from 74 matches. Now let’s talk about the options. Tiwary’s average is 59 from 58 matches he has played and Rahane averages 63 from 56 matches.     
 
Both Yuvraj and Raina have been dropped from the Test team on the basis of their performance and their record in domestic circuit shows that they have not been a force there as well. In the past, players like VVS Laxman have made a comeback because of the tons of runs he scored in domestic circuit. But that’s not the case with either Yuvraj or Raina.
 
Both Yuvraj and Raina have played a substantial amount of Test cricket and it will be ok to say that there are some problems in their technique that have hurt them.
 
Struggle against the short pitch deliveries: Indian players have always been tested with the short ball and both these players have failed to negotiate the delivery especially in the longer formats. Both players like to attack the ball but do not have a proper technique of playing the hook shot. The problem is not much when playing in the sub-continent but outside they have always struggled.
 
Problem against spinners: One never really relates this problem to the Indian players as they are considered to be the best players against spin bowling. But this is not the case with these two batsmen. Both batsmen have got out a number of times against the spinners and have always looked frustrated with all the close-in fielders. Raina struggled to pick Graeme Swann in the English series and will once again be tested if he plays.
 
All being said, it is a fact that either Raina or Yuvraj will play the first Test match and only time will tell whether they finally live up to the expectations or they disappoint once again.             

By Indian Sports News Network