India: Back to full strength

India picked their side for the Tests against New Zealand a just a while ago, and it will be a full strength XI barring freak injuries.

India: MS Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Cheteshwar Pujara, M Vijay, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra

Gambhir, Ishant and VVS Laxman are all fit to play the first Test, which means that there is no place for Cheteshwar Pujara or Murali Vijay in the XI, despite their sterling contributions in the series victory against Australia. Unlucky, but they will be on track to take their positions in the future, and both Gambhir and Raina cannot take their spots for granted. Yuvraj, meanwhile, is getting further away from the Test side as I see it.

There are the same three pacers and three spinners, and the only choice to be made is between Ishant and Sreesanth. I would suggest arm-wrestling, but I'm convinced they'd both lose simultaneously.

Pros for Ishant: Capable of sudden, fiery, game-changing spells once a match. Shortens the tail.
Cons: Really lame website.

Pros for Sreesanth: Entertainment value. Outswinger.
Cons: Yes.

I'm done here.

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