09 July 2007

Laxman made his case for inclusion, scoring 95 against Sussex. Mukul Kesavan blogs in Cricinfo that Dravid need not necessarily be faced with an either/or situation concerning Laxman and Yuvraj. He argues that with Kaarthik almost a certainty, dropping Dhoni to play both Laxman and Yuvraj might be the more prudent approach. Not only does Yuvraj provide all the firepower options of a Dhoni, there is also Yuvraj's left-arm spin option available.

The reason that this may not sit well with Dravid is that asking Kaartick to open the innings soon after keeping wickets for two days could be taking things a bit too far. Of course, Sangakkara often walks in very early on in a Sri Lankan innings after keeping wickets, but to be sure, no team is quite prepared to place such a burden on a 'keeper.

As of now, the top seven are likely to be: Jaffer, Kaartick, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Ganguly and Dhoni. Dravid has said that the match against the Lions would see the best Indian batting line-up.

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