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75 First Class matches (including the current Duleep match in progress) at an average of over 57. Is there any reason why he has never been selected for the Test team? He has outstanding stats.

He has been a stellar performer for Tamil Nadu for nearly decade now, but as you would know, he was playing in the wrong era. An Indian middle order boasting of Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman was virtually inseparable. Then came Sehwag to seal a spot at the top of the order, and first Jaffer, and later Gambhir added more stability at the top.

So this one became just like the Michael Hussey case. To add to that scenario, he was a silent performer. Just went out there and piled on the runs for his state, day in and day out. In the meantime, there were these "young ODI stars" like Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik and Mohammed Kaif (I think this guy deserved more opportunities too) getting a shot in the longer form of the game to build a team for the future. On other occasions, they decided to go for 5 bowler set up. Selectors were so focused to build the so called "younger generation" that even a 26 year old Badrinath was treated as someone past his prime. Only recently he seems to be back in reckoning thanks to some sincere scrutiny of talent and better sense.

If anyone deserves to be in the playing 11 to fill Ganguly's spot, I feel it must be Badrinath. But chief selector Srikkanth has already announced his fondness for Yuvraj Singh. Let us wait and see how the set up looks for NZ tour. But, I get a feeling that with the emergence of Rohit Sharma ans Cheteshwar Pujara, Badri will again be forgotten.

PS: I wouldn't call myself an Indian fan (as in subject line), especially after Kumble's retirement (BTW, as of today, a decade has passed since his 10 wicket haul at Kotla). Soon Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar might go, and it would be the end of a religion. If you want to know how I feel, it is exactly on the same lines of this Cricinfo article.

Well, as suspected, Badrinath has not been selected for India's tour of New Zealand. Cheif Selector Kris Srikkanth, who hails from Tamil Nadu himself, might have taken the safe route to avoid allegations of regional bias, but the the price Badrinath had to pay was huge.

There have been questionable selections of Balaji and Dinesh Karthik, both of whom also hail from Tamil Nadu and have shown indifferent form throughout the season at best, but strangely, Badrinath has been left out in favour of in-form ODI specialist Yuvraj Singh.

This is how Badri reacted after the teams were announced: "I'm not a super human. I can't do anything more than this."

Dinesh Karthik hasnt done anything extra-ordinary in the international level averaging 22 in the ODI and 29 in the tests.Moreover,he is a wicket-keeper and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni himself is the wicket keeper.There is no reason to pick Dinesh Karthik in the squad.S Badrinath averages 57+ in the FC cricket.He deserves a place in the test side more than Dinesh Karthik.