'With India there's always the uncertainty' - Kartik

As India sweat on their combination for the first Test against Bangladesh, wondering which of their seven batsmen to drop if they are to play five bowlers, one man is wondering why he is in the dressing-room at Lord's rather than in Chittagong. Murali Kartik, playing for Middlesex, was hoping to earn a recall to the Indian team but found himself out in the cold as India blooded the 10-season veteran Rajesh Pawar.

To rub it in, Bangladesh, meanwhile, are all set to play three left-arm spinners in Mohammad Rafique, Saqibul Hassan and Enamul Haq.

"Over the last year I have not thought too much about what would happen," Kartik told Cricinfo from England. "I just wanted to play a full season of county cricket. With India there's always the uncertainty - you never know when you can get called up or when you may not. At least this was a sure opportunity to play some top-flight cricket."

Kartik, who last played for India in Pakistan in 2005-06 before suffering a shoulder injury, has proved his fitness since without catching the selectors' eye. He made a strong comeback, walking into the final of the C & G Trophy for Lancashire, where he picked up a couple of wickets as his side won. Then the 30 World Cup probables were named and he did not figure.

"I was always told by the people that matter that I was in the scheme of things and that I was the best left-arm spinner in the country. After recovering from surgery I played for Lancashire and took wickets in both forms of the game. In the one-dayers I was regularly picking up 2-3 wickets a game," Kartik had told Cricinfo back then. "Then I played in the Challenger Series, the Irani Trophy, Ranji Trophy and Deodhar Trophy."

The problem for Kartik was that he did not get a bagful of wickets in the Ranji Trophy. To be fair to him, though, Railways, for whom Kartik plays in the Indian domestic season, put out greentops at the Karnail Singh Stadium and he only got to bowl well after half the wickets had fallen. In contrast, Pawar got to play on some tracks that turned plenty, and managed 32 wickets from the season.

Yet, when the Indian team for Bangladesh was picked, Kartik was hopeful of a recall. "Every time I've played against them I've done well. And to be honest I still don't know what I've done wrong," said Kartik. "Sometimes I'm left wondering what it is that I have done wrong, because I don't really understand the cricketing logic."

His keenness to play for India has not diminished but you can sense frustration creeping into Kartik's voice. "I thought it was a matter of time before I'd be picked because I'd come back and proven both my form and fitness, hardly missing a game all season." For the moment, though, Kartik is concerning himself purely with enjoying playing for Middlesex. It is, after all, a long way from Karnail Singh Stadium, where the facilities are often so bad that cricketers think twice before using the loo in the dressing-room, for there's no guarantee there'll be running water in the bathroom.

For now though, Kartik, who knows there's plenty of cricket coming up for India in the coming year, including a tour of England, is not thinking about Railways but rather about Middlesex, and hopefully an India call-up.