Force India have described their selection of Esteban Ocon to partner Sergio Perez in 2017 as a very close call. Custom Jerseys Nike . The French youngster is understood to have beaten off competition from fellow Mercedes graduate and Manor team-mate Pascal Wehrlein to take the seat made vacant by the Renault-bound Nico Hulkenberg.Felipe Nasr, whose candidature was bolstered by substantial financial backing, is also believed to have been in contention. Revealing that Force India owner Vijay Mallya had the final say in Ocons appointment, deputy team boss Bob Fernley told Sky Sports: It was a very close call but Esteban just came out on top - it was tough competition.Weve always had a very clear opinion of what we need from a driver point of view which is the best driver that Force India can afford. Whether that means a package or purely talent, thats Vijays final call. The bosses of Mercedes, Manor and Renault join Ocon to mark the youngsters birthday at Septembers Singapore GP The press release announcing Ocon had signed what was described as a multi-year deal included commentary from Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, a reminder in itself that Mercedes are Force Indias engine providers and Ocon remains part of the Silvers Arrows driver development programme.According to Wolff, Ocons promotion amounted to a positive development for Formula 1 that talent wins over money but the Austrian then had the rather less celebratory task of informing Wehrlein he had been overlooked. Yesterday [Thursday] l received the call that Force India had decided to take him, Wehrlein told Sky Sports. I cant change that. I received the call from Toto that Force India had decided to take him. Its not the end of the world.Can Nico Rosberg clinch the title at Interlagos? Watch the Brazilian GP live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday, the race begins at 4pm; Watch the whole race weekend with a NOW TV week pass - £10.99, no contract Also See: Ocon joins Force India for 2017 The Formula 1 Gossip column Wholesale Custom Jerseys . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. Custom Jerseys Adidas . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed. https://www.cheapcustomjerseysonline.com/ . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. 23 Five-wicket hauls for R Ashwin in Tests - the third highest among India bowlers alongside Kapil Dev. Only Anil Kumble (35) and Harbhajan Singh (25) have taken more such hauls. Ashwin is playing his 43rd Test. Harbhajan, Kumble and Kapil took 75, 81 and 114 Tests for their 23rd five-wicket haul respectively. Among bowlers from all teams, only Sydney Barnes has been quicker to 23 five-for in Tests. Barnes took just 27 Tests.7 Five-fors by Ashwin this year - the second time he has taken seven or more such hauls in a calendar year. Ashwin took seven five-fors in 2015 as well. Only one other bowler - Muttiah Muarlitharan - has taken seven or more five-wicket hauls in a year more than once. Muralitharan did it in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2006. Ashwins 14 five-wicket hauls in the last-two years equal the most any bowler has taken in a two-year period. Muralitharan had taken 14 such hauls between 2000 and 2001 and again between 2006 and 2007.18 Five-wicket hauls by Ashwin in just 26 Tests in India. Only Anil Kumbles 25 such hauls is higher than Ashwins in India. Harbhajan also took 18 five-fors from 55 Tests at home.56.16 Jos Buttlers batting average against India in Tests; his 76 in Englands first innings was his fifth score of 40 or more runs in six innings against them. Buttlers 76 is the highest by a visiting batsman at Wankhede batting at No. 7 or lower since Adam Gilchrists 122 in 2001-02.1975 The only time in 13 Tests before this a team posting a total of 400 or more runs in the first innings a Tests has lost at the Wankhede Stadium. Fake Custom Jerseys. On that occasion though India had ended up trailing West Indies by 198 runs in spite of putting up 406 runs on the board. Since then, teams posting a total of 400-plus have ended up winning on seven occasions, with other six Tests ending in a draw. This is Englands third 400-plus total in their first innings at the Wankhede Stadium in their last three Tests here. England defeated the hosts after posting such totals on the previous two instances.2013 The last time before this India spinners took all the ten wickets to fall in the first innings of a Test. Ashwin had led the India spinners on that occasion too, taking seven of the ten Australia wickets to fall to spinners, in Chennai in 2012-13. Overall, this was just the eighth instance of India spinners taking all ten wickets in the first innings of a Test.1983 The last time before this India had a century stand for their second wicket in Tests at the Wankhede Stadium. Anshuman Gaekwad and Dilip Vengsarkar had added 133 against West Indies on that occasion. Overall, there have been only four such stands for India at this venue. M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara have added 107 runs in this innings - their seventh hundred-run stand in Tests. So far, the pair has added 2251 runs together at an average of 66.20 - the highest for an India pair that has added 2000 or more runs in Tests. ' ' '