Indian cricket selectors are a set of people who will always be under scrutiny, always being asked questions and always finding it difficult to explain their choice of players. Thus it is no surprise that their choice of thirty players as probables for the Champions Trophy to be held in South Africa in September has raised eyebrows and some pertinent queries.
Surprisingly one of the questions pertains to the selection of Rahul Dravid, former India captain, in the probables list of 30. Surprising since Rahul has been virtually ruled out of limited overs cricket for quite some time. He is perhaps the first one to be ruled out when it comes to selecting a team for the one-dayers and now after having cooled his feet on the sidelines for a long time he is suddenly recalled. And mind you when a person like Rahul Dravid is brought back into the reckoning it is almost certain that he would be in the final list of fifteen. Otherwise there is no point in calling a player of his reputation and then ignoring him later. Thus one can clearly name two people who would be in the fifteen going for the Champions Trophy-- M.S.Dhoni the captain and Rahul Dravid the former skipper.
It is a bit of a puzzle, this recall of Rahul Dravid. Since he has not been on the one-day teams for quite some time, he has no performance to back up his claim to be in the side. And it is not right that the selectors should take his performance in the IPL matches as a base since he was among the failures, like so many other well known stars. 20-Twenty is a different ball game, meant for younger people who can also be unconventional in their approach.
But according reports Dravid has been brought back to lend solidity to the batting since it was brittleness in that particular sphere that was the cause of India's poor showing in the 20-twenty World Cup in England. There should be no comparison between performances in these two different ball games. But then that is how Indian cricket works on occasion.
Then again one thought that the Selection Committee was looking to the future. Rahul Dravid is certainly not that. Yes, he is part of the past, a great past; a wonderful and sometimes brilliant player. What message are the selectors sending?
In sharp contrast they have failed to even consider a player like Parthiv Patel who at 17 not only played for India as wicket keeper and as batsman at various positions, including the vital role of an opener, a successful one at that. Now the poor man, only 24, is not even considered despite a string of successful scores at the domestic level- the only level he has had a chance to show his skill. He is certainly one of the most improved batsmen in the country and has adjusted well in the role of an opener.There are other names , those that are left out and some who are selected, whose qualifications need to be reassessed but also frankly there are so many among the younger lot who need to be nurtured that it is difficult to find fault with the selectors. They only have 15 slots to fill with another fifteen for honorarium positions and they can't please everyone.
Ramu Sharma
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Tuesday, February 09, 2010
