The Umran Malik dilemma for India selectors

It will be a moment of truth for Indian cricket when the Chetan Sharma-led selection panel sits on Sunday (May 22) to pick the squads for the triple series of South Africa, Ireland and England, for both red-ball and white-ball matches. The main debate will be the inclusion of Umran Malik, whether to choose him for the white-ball or the red-ball squad - or both. A big call awaits the selectors who, contrary to previous plan, are now expected to meet virtually. Having impressed in the IPL with his whizzing pace - unseen in Indian cricket - Malik is seen as the next big thing and the selectors will be contemplating if he should be directly unleashed as a trump card in the one-off Test against England or go step by step with him in international cricket. While many have called his pace raw, comments of experts like Kevin Pietersen, who has advocated for his inclusion in the Test against England, have put the selectors in a quandary. The other big point of debate will be the composition of the squad for the home series against South Africa. With Cricket South Africa (CSA) sending a formidable side, the selectors do not want to select an experimental team comprising the performers in the IPL and some fringe players of the past. There is a school of thinking that some senior players, who would be bound for England, should be picked for a few games of the five-match series. With the home series to be played from June 9 to 19 and the Indian contingent scheduled to depart for England on June 16-17, some seniors could be made part of a few games against South Africa. Rohit Sharma, the all-formats skipper of India, won't be considered as it is understood that he has sought a break. Another big call will be to pick the captain in Rohit's absence. While Shikhar Dhawan had captained Indian in the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka last year, the selectors' line of thinking has changed regarding the seasoned opener. Meanwhile, the Indian team think-tank and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have a lot of planning to do on how to divide the coaching staff. While there are strong speculations that VVS Laxman will be asked to manage the T20 games against South Africa and later in Ireland, there is also a talk that Rahul Dravid will manage the home series and join the squad in England later as he wants to have first-hand information on the performances given the T20 World Cup later this year.