If international cricket can be likened to warfare, the Indian selectors have chosen a Test team which has its top flank open, a soft underbelly and is packed with too much dead artillery. The Test party has 16 members, but it's 11 that really count and, of these, nine selected themselves. But the two remaining spots were vital and it can't be said that the selectors have picked the right men.

By conventional logic, it is difficult to argue with the selection of Baroda opener Connor Williams. He scored 224 runs in the Irani Trophy, a match that was billed as the selection trial, and the selectors would have had a tough time explaining his omission. Yet, four of the five members of the selection committee have played enough cricket for India to know that there is a significant gap between the requirements at domestic and international level. If runs in Indian domestic cricket were the barometer for a batsman's real worth, Ajay Sharma, whose first-class career average is third only to Don Bradman and Vijay Merchant, would have been less tempted to play footsie with shadowy bookmakers.

Williams will do well to prove us wrong, but his runs at Nagpur, scored against a rag-tag pace attack on a pitch that was as responsive to pace as a mannequin to seduction, and against a bunch of butter-fingered fielders, will count for very little against Pollock and co. in South Africa.

Unless the tour management show ingenuity and boldness in pushing Rahul Dravid to the top of the order, Williams will make his Test debut with only one practice match to get used to the conditions, and will need more than luck to survive the opening spell. Mumbai's Wasim Jaffer would have been a better choice, even though he didn't play in the Irani Trophy match. He is more compact and has previous experience of Test cricket. He was dropped after two home Tests against South Africa, just when he was beginning to look the part.

But while the logic behind Williams's selection is understandable, if flawed, wicketkeeper Sameer Dighe's return is simply baffling.

Dighe made his way into the national side primarily as a batsman-wicketkeeper in the one-day series in Australia in 1999-2000; he was not selected for the subsequent Test matches presumably because his keeping was not up to the mark. Last April, though, he found favour and was chosen ahead of Nayan Mongia in the Chennai Test against the Australians, where he made up for his bungling performance behind the wicket with a couple of streaking boundaries that sealed a famous victory for India.

To spinners, he is more a fumbler than a gatherer and in his last Test against Sri Lanka, he ruined his Mumbai team-mate Sairaj Bahutule's return to international cricket with two muffed chances. When young unknown Deep Dasgupta was chosen for the one-day tournament in South Africa, the implication was that even Dighe's batting wasn't an asset anymore.

One-day cricket is not the sternest of tests for a wicketkeeper, but Dasgupta has flunked already. Not only is he is a poor gatherer of the ball, but he is clearly out of his depth at international level. It was logical to expect a change. Yet Dasgupta stays behind as back-up to Dighe, and together they are sure to strike terror in the hearts of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

It's a tragedy that Mongia, the best wicketkeeper in the land by a mile, is not wanted by those who run the game. But there had better be a good reason for keeping him out and we need to be let in on it.

Among those who will be taking an early flight home, Jacob Martin can feel unlucky. He has a game built for Test cricket, yet he has been considered only for the one-day matches. Obviously, Sourav Ganguly has more faith in Virender Sehwag's batting skills. But surely, he isn't planning a surprise pace bombardment on the South Africans? Spin is supposed to be India's main weapon, and yet there are five quick bowlers in the squad -- Srinath, Prasad, Nehra, Zaheer and Agarkar. Of these, three are bound to be passengers. Or are they insurance against recurring injuries?

Sambit Bal is editor of Wisden.com India.

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