Did Virat Kohli save Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan from getting dropped?

New Delhi: National selectors on Monday named a 15-member Indian squad for the upcoming three-Test home series against New Zealand starting on September 22 in Kanpur. The newly announced squad is only a trimmed version of the squad that toured West Indies last month. Except Stuart Binny and Shardul Thakur all other players retained their spot in the side, including Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. It has been learnt that both captain Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble put their weight behind the two as the selectors refrained from disturbing the winning combination. Win against West Indies also forced their hand. "We have stuck to the combination which has done very well abroad. Not many times (do) we see Indian team doing well when we tour," chief selector Sandeep Patil said. However, out-of-favour opener Gautam Gambhir and middle-order batsman Manish Pandey were discussed as possible replacements for Shikhar and Rohit respectively. Gambhir is in a great form these days. He has scored four half centuries (77, 90, 59 and 94) in last four innings of the ongoing Duleep Trophy matches. Pandey, on the other hand, has impressed one and all in the limited opportunities he has got so far. He is currently representing India A in Australia and is the top scorer for his team on the tour so far. But, Kohli and Kumble insisted on retaining Rohit and Shikhar in the team. For Rohit, the reason given is that he hasn’t got enough chances, or say a ‘longer run’, in Test cricket where he could translate his "immense talent" into performance. But it is not his talent that is in question. It is his attitude. Rohit's habit of throwing his wickets in Test cricket indicates that he lacks the patience required to succeed in the longest format. It is true that Rohit have not got regular chances in the Test team but how can you keep an under-performing player in the first eleven. Winning matches is more important than trying out a player. Also, at the highest level, it is about grabbing chances. And the 29-year-old Mumbai batsman has mostly failed to do that. In the case of Dhawan, no reason was given to justify his selection in the team. If ‘longer run’ and performance are used as the yardsticks to select a player, then Dhawan’s selection seems a bit strange. For, he hasn’t scored enough runs in international cricket to demand a place in the Test squad. Owing to his failure with bat, he was dropped from the playing XI for the fourth Test against West Indies. Shikhar's last Test century came in the first Test at Galle against Sri Lanka in August 2015. After that, he played 11 innings of seven Test matches with just one 50-plus score – against West Indies in first Test at North Sound. In the Duleep Trophy match where Cheteshwar Pujara scored a mammoth 256 not out and his team piled up almost 700 runs, Shikhar couldn’t even muster a half-century. He fell for just 29. But it seems like his last chance to save his career. If he fails in the three Tests against New Zealand, it might become a lot difficult for the anyone to back him. Patil also left hints in this regard. “We want him to come good,” Patil said before adding, “not only Shikhar but all the 15 that we have selected. We have tremendous faith in the 15 we have selected. It’s not that we have only 15 (players), we have a bigger pool.” The hint may be subtle but it is there. Selectors are keeping a tab on the performances of other players. And, Shikhar may have survived this time but next cycle of scrutiny may not go in his favour.