Rested or dropped? Dhawal Kulkarni 'disappointed' after snub

MUMBAI: Languishing in 14th spot on the combined table with only a slim chance of qualifying for the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals this season, Mumbai were hit by a fresh controversy when the selectors on Thursday left out Dhawal Kulkarni despite their most experienced seamer having recovered from his ankle injury, for their penultimate league game against Vidarbha.
The match will be played from December 30-January 2 at the Vidharbha Cricket Stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur.
TOI has learnt that Kulkarni was told to ‘rest’ even as fellow pacers Shardul Thakur and Tushar Deshpande, who have recovered from their injuries, have returned to the squad. “The selectors didn’t want all the pacers, who are returning from injury, to play at the same time, lest one of them breaks down in the middle of the match, hence they left out Kulkarni,” a source told TOI.
Kulkarni was recovering at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore ever since he was told to rest by the Mumbai physio after he suffered
from a swollen ankle during the match against Gujarat at the Wankhede Stadium late last month. Incidentally, Kulkarni had led the team, which lost that game by eight wickets. “I received a clearance from the NCA yesterday that I’m fit and available for selection. I’m a bit disappointed, but it’s the selectors’ decision to rest me for this game, and I respect that,” Kulkarni, who has played 12 ODIs and a T20 for India, and taken 260 wickets in 85 First-Class games, told TOI on Thursday.
Kulkarni and Thakur were both declared fit at the NCA on Wednesday. Thakur has been out of the game since October 12, when his Test debut lasted just 10 deliveries before he hobbled off the field due to a side strain, against the West Indies at Hyderabad. Deshpande claimed six wickets against Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Mumbai's first game of the season, but has been out injured since. In the absence of Thakur, Deshpande and Kulkarni, Mumbai’s pace attack has been severely depleted.
Thakur's return to action will be closely followed by the Indian team management and the national selectors too. The 26-year-old has played in five ODIs and seven T20 Internationals so far.
The Squad: Siddhesh Lad (Captain), Shreyas Iyer, Aditya Tare, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Jay Bista, Vikrant Auti, Shubham Ranjane, Eknath Kerkar, Karsh Kothari, Dhrumil Matkar, Tanush Kotian, Minad Manjrekar, Tushar Deshpande and Royston Dias.