Fair Team Selection for Windies Series

Whenever the BCCI selection committee sits to pick out a team there is some fingers pointed at them. They are always the villains for not providing enough chances to certain players. To be very fair to the present group of selectors they are giving a fair go to the youngsters. It is always difficult to select a group of players from the vast pool of resources available in India. But they seem to have unearthed many talents so far largely due to the unavailability of the leading Indian players. But the Indian team will be seen with all its stars fit and raring to go after the South African tour in December 2010. 

Big Four are Back

With Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman all fit it would have been tough for the national selectors to give chances to the youngsters in upcoming test series against West Indies starting shortly. The flat tracks in India would be perfect match for the stroke play of Indian stars such as Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman. They have to get into the groove before the series Down Under coming up in December. All the rust has to be shed before they reach the Australian shores. 

Virat Kohli & Ajinkya Rahane - Two Young Guns

Ajinkya Rahane who was the only bright spot in the disastrous English tour has been retained in the side for first. Though there are large question marks over the number of opportunities he will get now that the superstars are back to full fitness. Similar is the fate with ODI star Virat Kohli. Yuvraj is fit and that will mean he will be favourite for the number six batting slot in Kotla Test. There has been much rivalry between these two good friends in the last few years. Both should be given at least a couple of matches to prove their mettle. And it seems Yuvraj will get the first go. If Yuvraj fails miserably then Kohli might sneak into the team.

Raw talent: Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav & Rahul Sharma

In the bowling department the major omissions were Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra and Praveen Kumar. This was the second setback for Harbhajan Singh who was also omitted from the ODI and T20 series against England. Though Harbhajan was seen in awful form throughout the test series against England, he still a class act and number one spinner. Now or later he will make a comeback. It would be good to give him a run in this series to have him in his best shape in the Australian tour. Amit Mishra on the other hand has got many chances since the test retirement of Anil Kumble but has squandered all of them. Though he put up a decent show with the bat in England but failed to deliver with the ball. Praveen Kumar has now become the leader of the Indian attack in the absence of Zaheer Khan and it is wise to provide ideal rest to the bowler before the all important series in December in Australia. While Ishant Sharma has again got his place in the side there are many new bowlers he has to compete against. Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav have impressed the selectors with their pace and line. Thus these two young guns get a place in the test side. 

Point to Prove for Spinners Pragyan Ojha & R. Ashwin

Pragyan Ojha and R. Ashwin will be the leading spinners for India in the test series. Ashwin has become a regular for the ODI squad and some decent performances are expected of him in the test series too. While Pragyan Ojha has been taking wickets at ease in the domestic cricket for much time now and a match winning effort dawning the Indian colours will do his chances a world of good. Rahul Sharma the lanky leg spinner from Delhi is the new face in the spin department.     


Though M.S. Dhoni has been retained in the squad for the tests but he is due for a much needed break. The Indian team has a point to prove in the test arena so he may be kept in the team before India clinches the series. But for the ODIs he should be given a rest and the likes of Wriddhiman Saha, Parthiv Patel or Dinesh Karthik should be given an opportunity. 


Squad for First Test: M S Dhoni (Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, R. Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Virat Kohli, Varun Aaron, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Sharma.

Building Bench Strength in a Helpful Way

One thing good about Indian cricket is that there is no dearth of talent in this vast nation. This is why the national selectors always have a tough time while selecting teams for any tournament that our Men in Blues will participate in. There is a lot of speculation before the selection meeting and criticisms after the final team are announced. If I was a BCCI selection committee member this blog would be of special interest to me. I would like to share an idea by which the BCCI selection committee can reduce their worries and select a fair team. In the way they would also be serving the cricketing fraternity.

Ireland are a Competitive Side

ICC has admitted and Affiliate Nations have always been complaining about the lack of match practice they have before competing in the World Cup, Asia Cup, World Cup T20, etc. They have every reason to complain, they hardly get 3 or 4 matches in four years against the top teams and it is no wonder they seem to be below class in the premiere cricketing events (with the exception of Kenya and Ireland). ICC have found no solution to providing them regular top flight cricket and many cricketers from these Affiliate Nations are leaving to take part in the big domestic leagues, never to return again. If ICC wants their projected scenario of Globalizing Cricket effectively they will have to provide teams scope to play enough cricket all through the year.

Now you would be wondering where the connection between the above given two facts lies? There is a huge connection. ICC Affiliate Nations require quality cricketing practice all through the year and our young talents require exposure to top level cricket in alien conditions. What I want to mean is, in the recently concluded NKP Salvi Challenger’s Trophy we saw Indian team being divided into three parts – India Blue, India Red and India Green. Why not have such a division all through the year. We can provide 45 Indian team fringe players to play International cricket in populated stadiums around the world.

Why Not Have 3 Team Strategy in Challengers Trophy Intact?

If the BCCI would approach the ICC with such a plan it would more that please the world’s governing body. The Affiliate Nations would get a chance to play against players having International experience or players that are nearly good enough to play International cricket that will help them hone their skills even further. If you talk about the competitiveness of the minnows, then let me remind you we have Ireland, Netherlands and Kenya in that league. Each one of these teams has caused an upset in the World Cups beating the well famed teams. So they will be more than competitive for our fringe players. On the otherhand the Indian fringe players will get a chance to play in seaming conditions (in Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Canada, etc.) which are quite alien to them.

Kenya Have Proved They are No Push overs

So the BCCI should seriously start considering the appointment of quality cricket coaches such as Dave Whatmore, Robin Singh and their likes to guide the India A, B and C teams. These games will provide a much required bench strength, the weakness of which came to the fore in the recently concluded England tour. Selectors would be able to closely watch the results and performances from the players and that would aid them in the national team selection.

Such an arrangement would be ideal to groom our young Indian cricketers as well as have a fair selection process.