Overall, a pretty balanced effort I think..
Ganguly's selection is bound to inflame passions, and it will be a pretty interesting Indian dressing room with Ganguly and Rahul and Greg. That said, from a purely cricketing point of view, Ganguly is bound to be a passenger more than anything else. If Rahul is fit and available, it will be difficult to slot Ganguly anywhere in the Team XI, unless India go with a bowler short and Ganguly becomes the 5th bowling option, something even Ganguly wont be too keen on.
Questions have been raised about what this means to the "process" so dear to Greg and Rahul, and IMHO, if the "process" is paramount, then the process should succeed irrespective of personnel. I will be dammed if the "processes" put in place are so personnel-centric that any change will derail it completely. If that is the case, what is the value add from Greg anyways?
About investment in youth, its a good thing to do.. After all, the middle order is nowhere as potent as it was a couple of years ago. And with the players ageing, and retirement not far away, it is imperative that younger players be given a chance.. But, is there a real, conscious effort to do so? But for Kaif and Yuvraj, has there been any other player who has been identified as a middle order bat and played in place of Rahul or VVS or Sachin ( when fit and available) in Test Cricket? and regarding the youth policy in ODIs, the only kid who has been persisted with, irrespective of performance, has been Suresh Raina ( under the new dispensation, that is). Robin Uthappa was tried and dumped, so was Piyush Chawla, ditto R.P Singh and VRV Singh . Besides these, what other player has been really groomed who was not part of the thinking under the previous management?
Finally, the wickets.. Or lack thereof in the Indian domestic structure.. Shashank Manohar of the "player salary to be linked to performance" fame, had no qualms getting his groundsman to prepare a green top at Nagpur.. Neither did the CAB at Kolkata.. Jamshedpur, Mohali and Hyderabad have been bouncy. So it is not that the wickets cannot be prepared.. But does the BCCI, and local associations, have the guts and gumption to do so on a regular basis? Punjab tried a green top and lost to Bengal.. To avoid relegation, wont they go for "patta" wickets in the remaining home games?
There are 30 teams playing the Ranji Trophy ( give or take a couple). Why does the BCCI not mandate that the home grounds of each of these teams be of a particular character.. Bouncy, Green, Square turner, Balanced between bat and ball ( some purchase on the first day for pacers, easing out on day 2 and 3, and turning on day 4 and 5), and patta wickets.. Balance this across all 30 teams, and let each of the teams in the Elite and plate divisions of the Ranji Trophy be exposed to each kind of wicket.
the BCCI could also mandate that the Balanced wickets be in the test match centres ( Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalaore, Chennai) and the remaining types across the board.
Its not that hard is it?
About talent search and the dearth of "quality" players in the domestic scene, why not revive the "A" tours that have been sporadic so far? The Indian domestic season runs roughly between end November through Feb.. How about this then
1. Identify a pool of 30 players, categorized into two ("A" and "B") teams,based on the performance in the Ranji domestic season.
2. Play home series against England/SA/Oz/NZ/WI/SL/Pak in the period between February through April/early May.
3. Tour England or play county/club cricket in England during the English summer. Monitor the progress of each of these players through the period.
4. Tour SA/NZ/Oz during October/November or play club cricket there during this time..Play Queensland Second XI, or Auckland or Gauteng or any of the other teams depending on tam availability.
based solely on performance, rate the players. Those who make the cut can be put on a supplementary retainer along with the national team. Those who don't make the cut always have the next year .
Make this an annual affair with all players ( on retainer or otherwise) be available for selection.
The BCCI surely has the money and the muscle to get this in place if they wanted.
Given the amount of cricket played, it is difficult to get the National team guys to play domestic cricket.. But surely, a system can be set into place in spite of them?
In closing, this bit from Sambit Bal on CricInfo :- "The average Indian cricket fan might have been fooled by the team's success in the last World Cup in South Africa but it wouldn't have been lost on the discerning few that the pitches were flat, almost designed to give India a good run."
The weakness to cope with anything outside of the norm was apparent even when India was beating all comers at home last season. But so swept in the euphoria of winning and team changes was everyone that it took a string of defeats to bring this weakness to the fore.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Some thoughts on the Team selection
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
You are right. Indians turn into chickens when the track offers even a wee bit of bounce or pace.
This thing about pitches at the Ranji matches has been going around for quite a while. But no one has had the drive to go forward with it.
Yes, it is the same punjab vs bengal mentality that is being the block. BCCI has to come up with a workaround.
I think Zaheer is an excellent example of how a player can be nurtured by playing county cricket abroad. The improvement is quite obvious.
One thing is for sure. As long as the quality of Ranji cricket does not improve India will continue to struggle on pacy tracks.
ananth, firstly, thank you for your comments on my blog ( My two cents ..) and for linking me to yours.
About the Zaheer Khan bit, the guy went on his own initiative to England, partly to get some cricket under his belt and partly to get some dough.. I will be damned if either the BCCI or the selectors of the captain had anything to do with him putting the hard yards in England. That said, it is heartening to see him back in the fray.
About the bounce, I think the Indians have had enuf time in South Africa to get used to the bounce. It is a pity they played first up in Durban, but neither Newlands nor Port Elizabeth were quite the terror tracks as speculated. The problem has been more to do with poor application and poor shot selection by the Indians.
Zaheer quite surely did go on his own. I dont disagree with that. And fortunately for Indian cricket he came back with more than just dough. Now, this case should be looked upon as an example to be emulated by the other cricketers as well as the board is all I say.
And yes, the Indians did have enuogh time to get used to the bounce. But maybe due to the years of first class cricket or for some strange reason, every time they come in to play the mindset is the same as that on Indian pitches. Especially for strokemakers such as Sehwag. He got out flicking off his pads. On a flat Indian pitch that shot would have rocketed in the square-leg direction along the ground for a wonderful buondary. But this was SA.
And many thanks to you too for the link.
about the mindset bit, when was the last time the "superstars" of Indian cricket played in the domestic season? and for what length of time? Almost all of them shy away from playing domestic cricket, citing the amount of international cricket being played and the need to unwind and relax.
No domestic cricket now. But these players have been groomed on "Indian" tracks since they have stepped into cricketing shoes and habits do die hard.
Whatever be the reason the flat-track mindset is surely there for all to see.
Post a Comment