Dilip Vengsakar: IPL form has nothing to do with Champions Trophy chances

The selection committee on Monday announced the 15-man lineup for the tournament. Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami were recalled into the squad and will feature in India's ODI lineup after a gap of seven months and two years respectively. The committee kept the in-form Suresh Raina and Rishabh Pant in reserves and did not let Gautam Gambhir's IPL form sway their decision of not including him in the squad.

Dilip Vengsarkar backed the selectors' committee for its choices on Monday and believes the team has the potential to successfully defend the Champions Trophy title. 

"If you look at Gambhir and Raina they have got runs in IPL. But I don't know about their 50 overs form. Besides you can only pick 15 players," Vengsarkar told India Today.

"In case of Rishabh Pant, I haven't seen him bat in person. But T20 and longer formats are different. In ODI cricket, there are factors like ability to play the short ball to look for also. So one has to wait and see," he added.

The former Mumbai batsman dismissed the concerns of big players being out of form in the ongoing IPL.

"It does not worry me. IPL is a different format where you have to attack from the beginning. In 50 overs you have more time to settle down for a longer innings. They will have enough time to get into the groove," he stated.

However, Vengsakar disagreed with the selectors at the inclusion of an extra batsman in the squad and believed an extra bowler would have proved to be advantageous. Ajinkya Rahane has been included in the side as a reserve opener while Manish Pandey features in the team as a reserved middle order batsman.

"I could have picked another extra bowler in place of two batting reserves. I can't name one now," he said. 

Vengsakar suggested that the young Hardik Pandya could be the key player for India in English conditions because of his all-around cricketing skills.

"I am glad Pandya has been chosen. Because he could be very useful in English conditions in June," he opined.

The former selectors chief cited "adapting to English conditions quickly" as the key to success in the tournament.

Did you know, Gautam Gambhir is the only Indian batsman to have scored more than 300 runs in four consecutive Test series.



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