BCCI to field Shashank Manohar as the second opening batsman in the 4th & final test at Oval

London: In a historic move the national cricket selection committee announced to field BCCI president Shashank Manohar as the new opening batsmen to come out with Gautam Gambhir in the fourth & final test at the Oval in the ongoing India tour of England. Mr.Manohar would be replacing Virender Sehwag.

Breaking the news in a specially called in press conference, the beaming national selection committee chairman, Krish Srikant said it was a well thought out counter strategy to preempt the excessive homework that English bowlers have done & the plan their think-tank has come up with to expose the weak point of our great batting line up and nip it in the bud.

Trying hard to control his giggle Srikant explained; "(tee hee hee) .. See when Viru in both the innings played that godforsaken shot .. (tee hee hee) .. nicking the ball while playing awful deliveries going towards the second practice pitch, he left the entire English think tank bamboozled as to how they’d get him out if & when he actually decides to play some cricket .. (hee hee) and they’ll keep guessing" .. " (ho ho ho) O God, you should have seen the look of horror on Andy Flower’s face when in one, well actually two master strokes Viru made mockery of their weeks of plannnig and practice .."; he managed to say before falling of his chair laughing.

Without disclosing much of the selection committee’s strategy he said that as a replacement they were looking for someone intone with the venue for the last game. Responding to questions as to how the BCCI president resembles or blends with Oval he pointed towards Shashank’s picture and exclaimed; "O heeellooouuu, just look at him,, ignore the facial details and imagine a broad outline from tip of his head to his waist … he is almost an egg for crying out loud !!!". Ramesh Pawar & Vinod Kambli were the other options discussed, he added.

Indian cricket supporters and critics welcomed the announcement alike and praised Indian selection committee for their out of the box thinking.

But the news did not find many takers in the English media.

While Team England coach Andy Flower when contacted for comments, was at loss of words, Naseer Husein has called the move ‘disgraceful’ and a intentional ploy to take the glory away from path that England team is taking towards becoming number one. "They have cunningly made the series as worse then defeating Bangladesh on a swinging Aussie wickets"; he said. Michael Vaughan when being traced to get comments was last found in Shashank Mahohar’s bathroom,  trying to find jars of Vaseline.

In a related but conflicting news from home, Viru’s mother has blamed the London riots for Viru’s infamous double ducks in the 3rd test. While speaking to our correspondent she said; "You can take Viru out of Haryana but you can never take Haryana out of Viru. See he is a jat – fighting, looting, rioting is in his blood. It would have been difficult to concentrate with the unrest going just outside the stadium. He would have had been at peace on the crease, if they would have at least allowed him to flick a couple of bats or gloves from Sachin’s room before the match".

Photo Source: Its Shashank Manohar and Double Duck Sehwag for God sake. Do u really care !! | News Source: Would have told but you already know where this came from. Right?