Ishant Sharma's liking towards bowling good length deliveries time and again, only to see it smashed over his head for one six after another, has finally come back to haunt him after the lanky pace bowler was left out of India's squads for both the Asia Cup and the World T20 in Bangladesh.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee, in a meeting in Bangalore on Tuesday, finally found a place in the India ODI team for Cheteshwar Pujara, with the Test supremo brought in at the expense of Suresh Raina, who has struggled for consistency in the 50-over format of late.
Raina, however, has been included in India's World T20 squad, with Yuvraj Singh, so off colour in the recent ODI series against Australia, which in turn led to his ouster for the New Zealand tour, also finding a place.
Ishant has been off the boil in the shorter formats of the game for quite a while now, with the fast bowler not exactly carrying any menace in the early part of the innings, while being hit for fun in the final stages.
It was only a matter of time before the selectors' patience ran out, and unfortunately for Ishant it has led to him missing out on the flight to the prestigious Asia Cup and the ICC World T20.
Stuart Binny has found a place in both squads for India, with the all-rounder no doubt looking forward to making more of an impact for his side when given an opportunity, after a rather forgettable debut against New Zealand, where he did not get a chance to bat, while was given the ball for just a single over.
The Asia Cup squad is pretty much the same, barring that Pujara replacement for Raina, while Varun Aaron, after his rather forgettable performances in New Zealand, will perhaps count himself a little lucky to be named in both squads.
Aaron has pace in his kitty, but lacks consistency, and could prove to be rather a costly mistake in more ways than one - but then he does have the ability to pick up wickets.
Yuvraj will be desperate to make amends for his failures against Australia, and the left-hander did play a match-winning knock in his last T20 against the same opposition, just before he found the going tough in the subsequent ODI series.
The bowling, as always, remains the weak link, but Dhoni will hope in Bangladesh conditions his slower bowlers can come more into play, and with it allow his free-flowing batsmen to smash a few out of the park without too much pressure on their shoulders.
Squads: Asia Cup: MS Dhoni (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra, Ishwar Pandey.
World T20: MS Dhoni (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra, Mohit Sharma, Varun Aaron.
