When India won the 2012 world
cup, the Indian selectors got a big fat bonus on top of a big fat salary. Why?
Because they selected the team that won the world cup. So when India lost 8-0
away in England and Australia, you would think that the selectors at the very
least would have some explaining to do. Nope. In India, our selectors are
immune from any kind of questioning. In fact our chairman of selectors is so
busy that he has no time for the media. Not that it would have made an ounce of
a difference. The BCCI have banned the selectors from speaking to the media.
The cricket loving public, the only reason why Indian administrators run the
world game, have no say in our cricketing system. We need to meekly accept
every decision the BCCI makes and even if we have genuine concerns we will not
get any answers because the BCCI does not believe we need to know how or why
certain decisions are made.
Looking at the squad that’s been
selected for the forthcoming test series against New Zealand and the T20 world
cup that follows, there are many question marks against certain selections.
What has Suresh Raina done to justify his place in the test side? Last time I
checked Raina was dropped after a disastrous tour to England where his
technique against the short ball was ruthlessly exposed. Since then, he’s scored
runs in a few ODI’s and suddenly he’s back in the test side. Has Raina done anything
to prove that he’s managed to sort out the weaknesses that led to him being
dropped in the first place?
Ishant Sharma is back in the test
squad after a serious surgery that has kept him out of cricket for quite some
time. He has had absolutely no match practice since then and yet he’s back as
part of the team. Wouldn’t it have been wiser to allow him to play in the Buchi
Babu tournament or try and get a contract to play abroad so that his match
fitness could have been clearly ascertained?
India’s last home series was
against the West Indians. Rahul Sharma was a part of this squad. He did not get
a game and yet he has been axed from the squad to face New Zealand. Whilst I
still do not believe that Sharma deserved a place in India’s test squad, having
picked him, it would have only been fair to give him a go. This decision would
have still made sense if Chawla had been setting the Ganges on fire with his
bowling. Far from that, Chawla’s domestic figures in recent times have been
decidedly ordinary.
There is also a patent lack of
clarity when it comes to the role the seniors’ are going to play in the long
run. Even during his best years, Sehwag was average away from home. His record
in places like England, South Africa and New Zealand has always been poor. In
recent times his away record has been woeful. What then is the plan? Is he
still going to open come South Africa in 2014? Tendulkar is 39 and Laxman is
37. Laxman’s fitness has always been a concern and he’s another player whose away
record in recent times has been average. Tendulkar will be nearing 41 when
India travels away next. Would it not make more sense to use the relatively
easier conditions at home to blood in youngsters?
In the past, India had honorary
selectors who were not paid for their services. In order to ‘professionalize’
the selection system, the BCCI decided that they will pay the selectors a good
deal of money for services rendered. In any professional setup, especially in
one where the ‘professionals’ are earning an absolute fortune, a non-negotiable
requirement needs to be accountability. If the selectors are not accountable
for any of the decisions that they make, if they do not have to explain the
logic behind selections to the public, what is then the difference between this
system and the honorary system we had in previous years? We may as well go back
to that system – at least we’d have the consolation of knowing that the
selectors aren’t going to be paid a fortune for doing a pathetic job. For the moment, I guess we need to be happy that Srikkanth reign as chairman of selectors is finally over. It may not get much better but the good news is that it is very difficult for it to get any worse.
