5 players who could have been included in India's squad for Test series against Australia

The Indian selectors chose a huge Test squad for the tour of Australia that begins next month at Brisbane. Karnataka youngster KL Rahul and Railways off-spinner have been included in a Test squad for the first time, with Suresh Raina making a comeback to the team after almost 2 years.Virat Kohli has been named captain for the first Test at the Gabba as MS Dhoni is still recovering from an injury. Wriddhiman Saha or Naman Ojha are expected to take the 33-year-old’s place in the final XI. There are, however, a few names that should have been considered by the selectors:

#5 Virender Sehwag

Some may say that he is not the same batsman as he was 3 years ago and that he has lost a lot of the reflexes that made him such a special cricketer but there is no doubting the fact that he can win you matched single-handedly even today.

A couple of poor matches for Dhawan may result in the need of a back-up opener. While there is no doubting KL Rahul’s talent, there will be a problem of 2 similar players at the top who do not score at the same rate as Dhawan or Sehwag. In this case. India could have had the luxury of an opener with tons of experience (104 Tests to be precise) and a Test average of 43.75 against the Australians.

#4 Rishi Dhawan

His 49 wickets in last year’s Ranji Trophy should have certainly brought him into the spotlight, but the selectors continue to puzzle us by ignoring the seam bowling all-rounder from Himachal Pradesh. India’s failed attempt with Stuart Binny in England should have definitely brought Dhawan into the spotlight. He even went down under with the India A team where he was relatively successful. He may not be as good as an Angelo Mathews or Shane Watson yet, but he is the best fast bowling all-rounder India has right now.

#3 Akshar Patel

Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin’s poor bowling record overseas is not unknown. A bit of change was required in the bowling all-rounder department after Jadeja’s disastrous tour of England. His first-class batting average of 44 and bowling average of 24 make for good reading and his slow left-arm orthodox bowling would have certainly tested the Aussies, whose struggles against the turning ball was recently seen in the UAE.

#2 Kedar Jadhav

One of the most consistent run-getters for Maharashtra in Ranji Trophy cricket, Jadhav is an aggressive middle-order batsman who played an important role in Maharashtra’s success in the 2013-14 season. He has an impressive first class average of 50.28 and an aggressive presence in the middle-order would help players like Kohli and Pujara, whom both endured a poor tour to England recently. He would have set his sights on the tour down under, but his selection for the last two ODIs will provide scant consolation to him.

#1 Pragyan Ojha

This has to be the most glaring omission.The man who picked up 10/89 and won the man of the match award in the last Test he played has for unknown reasons fallen out of the selector’s radar. He is an unknown commodity in overseas conditions for India.

In August 2011, he signed to play for Surrey for the final few weeks of the 2011 county season. His 24 wickets in 4 games helped Surrey get promoted to Division One of the LV County Championship. This shows that he has the pedigree to pick up wickets in overseas conditions