A bone to pick
A bone to pick
Choose a different team and people say, “How could they leave out the stars?”, as happened when Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were rested for the One-dayers against Bangladesh.
Go with the regulars and people say, “They should have given youngsters a chance.”
Cricket selection in India is a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t affair. It’s not an easy job.
Nonetheless, there are times when the selectors and the Board deserve anything but sympathy. Arjun Yadav’s inclusion in the India ‘A’ team for Zimbabwe and Kenya was not exactly a feather in the selectors’ cap. Yadav’s figures were not extraordinary. But he is the son of Shivlal Yadav, the paan-munching, power-wielding secretary of the Hyderabad Cricket Association. You get the picture.
Niranjan Shah’s “directive” to the selectors to pick a young team for the Bangladesh tour also did not go down well with well-wishers of Indian cricket. Selection is not the Board’s brief and it need not have pulled rank.
The timing of the selection committee change could have been better as well. Dilip Vengsarkar and Co replaced the Kiran More-led selectors just about six months before the World Cup. Nothing against the current selectors, but extending the previous team’s term could have ensured continuity of thought and policy.