India's disastrous tour of England has continued with yet another defeat at the hands of England. I have said before that I do not believe that the 4-0 whitewash that India suffered needs to necessarily spell doom and gloom for Indian cricket. If the right steps are taken to address the many issues that have surfaced during the course of this series, it is still possible to learn important lessons for the future. Judging by India's reaction to the defeat, however, has made me believe that the BCCI are as usual more interested in pushing the problems underneath the carpet and hope for the best.
Rahul Dravid's recall for the ODI series smacked of panic. Dravid has not played ODI cricket in a long time and ironically the last time our wise men remembered Dravid was when India toured South Africa for the champions trophy. India will do well to remember that the likes of Dravid and Tendulkar cannot play on forever and there will come a time in the near future when young Indian cricketers will need to develop the skills required to perform in conditions that do not suit their style of play. The selection disasters do not end there.
The alarmingly injury prone Gautham Gambhir has been ruled out of the remainder of the series due to a concussion suffered by him in the last test. Logic would suggest that India would name another batsman as his replacement. Since when have our selectors been bothered about trivial issues such as logic? The selection of Ravindra Jadeja is nothing short of a joke. Apart from the fact that Jadeja has hardly impressed in the numerous opportunities that he has already got, he happens to be a left arm spinner who can bat a bit. So how on earth is he a suitable replacement for GG? India head into the ODI series with no reserve batsmen. Bizarre would be an understatement!
The only positive news for India has been the performance of Ajinkya Rahane in the one off T20 international. Ironically, Rahane has come good in the format in which he was least expected to succeed. It has been rather surprising that Rahane has been consistently ignored by the selectors despite scoring mountains of runs in the domestic tournaments. It yet again seems to confirm the theory that first class cricket has no meaning in India. If selections are going to be based largely on performances in the IPL, what purpose does first class cricket then serve?
The bitter truth is that despite the hullabaloo over the IPL being a launchpad for future Indian cricketers, till date the IPL has not been responsible for providing India with one decent player. Anybody getting into the national side through IPL performances alone, have in general been an absolute disaster. Although it is very early yet to predict whether Rahane will succeed in the long run, it is no surprise that the two Indian batsman (Rahane & Pujara) who look most likely to succeed in test cricket are players who have not too many takers in the IPL. If the selection of Rahul Dravid for the ODI's teaches us anything, it is that there can be no substitute for technique.
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