 Laxman likely to be dropped for 3rd Test
 St Kitts, June 18: The axe might fall on middle-order batsman VVS Laxman as India wriggle out of the holiday mode to concentrate on selection matters for the third cricket Test against West Indies starting here on Thursday.
The Indians might have done well in dominating the West Indies in the first two Tests but the fact that they have not been able to force a victory in either of the matches must be rankling the team management.
National selector V B Chandrasekhar stoked the debate on selection with the observation that a third spinner is perhaps the need of the hour, which is a sign of changing times as Harbhajan Singh is now seen as third option after Virender Sehwag made a strong impression in the two Tests.
Since only hints are dropped in the current Indian cricket set-up, it must be presumed, at a certain risk of course, that either Laxman or Yuvraj will be rested. Yuvraj has better chances of being preferred over Laxman, although the reasons are hazy.
Laxman has played as significant innings as Yuvraj has in the last eight or nine months. Hints again must be used to draw one's own conclusions -- since there is a pattern in obsession with youth under the Dravid-Chappell dispensation, Yuvraj appears to be the frontrunner for the middle order slot. (Agencies)
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