Why is Joginder Sharma out of the India squad?

Haryana captain, Joginder Sharma is an all-rounder - a breed that is noted by its rarity in Indian cricket. Before securing his first national team birth in 2004, against Bangladesh in their home turf, he had played 19 First-class matches with a haul of 90 wickets at an average of 19. His bowling efforts were complemented by no less admirable batting exploits - he having scored two hundreds and five fifties. His stellar performance in the domestic circuit earned him a birth in India's ODI squad on its tour of Bangladesh in 2004. However, in three matches, Sharma managed to take only one wicket, with a decent economy rate of 4.71 though. Remaining unbeaten on both the occasions he had the opportunity to bat, he had a more than flattering strike rate of 141.6. However, his 22-ball 29 not out, studded with four fours batting at No. 9, wasn't enough to save India the blushes of its first and till the ICC World Cup 2007, their only ODI defeat against the Bangla Tigers.

In the following 19 First-class matches, Joginder claimed 94 wickets at 19 runs apiece. In the 2006-07 season, he featured in seven Ranji Trophy matches, bagging 39 wickets in seven matches, studded with two ten-wickets hauls (against Andhra and Uttar Pradesh) and a hat-trick (against Andhra). These were to go with him rattling 421 runs in three Duleep Trophy matches. The obvious result was that the national selectors couldn't overlook him any longer. Sharma, who was adjudged the fittest bowler in a pacers' camp organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was selected for the first two ODIs against West Indies in India at the stroke of the Crusade at Caribbean for the ICC World Cup 2007. However, he made the cut to the final eleven once; though India managed to win the encounter at Cuttack, Joginder’s contribution was negligible and forgettable - a run in three balls batting at No. 7, ahead of the internationally more illustrious hitters Ajit Agarkar and Ramesh Powar, before his timbers were disturbed by Darren Powell, and no wicket in four overs gone for 16 runs, when all the other five bowlers used claimed at least a wicket apiece.

Joginder Sharma, the second highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy Super League 2006-07 has since then been made to wait in the wings, with Ranadeb Bose and Rakesh Patel flanking him in the list making it to Indian tour of the British Isles. Ishant Sharma too has made the cut. These promising pacemen are still largely untested at the highest level of the international scenario. But why is Joginder Sharma out of the India squad? The only plausible, though far-fetched, reason is that he has already played four ODIs for India in as many years, with Bose and Patel yet to make their debut for India; Ishant Sharma, yet to see his teens through, has featured in a Test. While both Bose and Patel are 28, Joginder is 23. Joginder's bat talks sensibly and effectively, with Patel being a distant second. Bose and Ishant wouldn’t like to be compared with Joginder in this aspect of their game.

Joginder Sharma is still far from the ignominous bunch of tried-n-tested, deemed-to-be-dumped-in-doom. With both all-round performance and age on his side, Joginder Sharma should be given an extended run at the highest level - that's a conclusion that BCCI doesn't seem to arrive at or take note of.