Bunch of Jokers... What else are they???
The Indian Selectors, time and again, prove that “old habits die hard”.
Long back, 17 years to be precise, Mohinder Amarnath mocked at them and called them A Bunch of Jokers. That was the summer of 1989. It was an eventful year for Indian Cricket. Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble made their debut that year. Kris Srikkanth did a great job in leading the team in Pakistan. But when the team returned from Pakistan, Srikkanth was removed from Captaincy and Amarnath, dropped from the team. The Reason – They protested on behalf of the Team for a hike in the Players’ salary.
Not a single Selection Committee, since then, has tried to shed that tag. With every passing year, the selection committees re-assert that they indeed are jokers.
The present Test Squad for WI tour more than justifies that fact. I shall present some cases which show the gross inconsistency of these selectors –
Case 1 – Ajit Agarkar:
We can only sympathize with this Mumbai lad. He bowled his heart out in the ODI series only to be left out of the Test Squad. The Chairman of Selectors, Kiran More says that his Test Records aren’t that impressive to press his case for selection. Yeah… True... 50 odd wickets in 26 tests at 47 apiece is no great achievement.
But what matters is the present form of the cricketer and his performance in the touring country. Agarkar has taken nine wickets at 18 runs apiece at an economy rate of 3.46 in the ODI series. The performance of the other pace bowlers is better left unsaid. As a matter of fact, apart from Irfan Pathan, the combined experience of the other seamers in the squad is 2 Test matches.
Case 2 – VRV Singh:
Vikram Rajvir Singh was picked by Kiran More on the pretext that they were grooming him for the future. So what wrong did RP Singh do to be dropped?? He is also young and much more experienced than VRV. He has reasons to be unhappy, with the selectors showing him the door after a solitary chance in the first ODI at Kingston.
Case 3 – Ramesh Powar:
I have absolutely no problem with Powar being in the side, though his physique doesn’t exactly suggest the athlete that he is. He has loads of First Class experience and has come through the ranks. But I can easily suggest two reasons why he shouldn’t be in the team –
a) Whatever combination India chose, either five bowlers or four bowlers, there is little chance that he would be selected since Kumble and Harbhajan would be automatic choices, in case India decides to play two spinners.
b) When Kiran More says that he is looking to the future, he should have selected Piyush Chawla as the third spinner in the side rather than looking upto the 28 year old Powar.
c) Also, I strictly believe that Powar is a bits-and-pieces cricketer who can be worthy in the shorter form of the game but might prove to be a liability in a test match.
Case 4 – Dinesh Kaarthick:
I really don’t understand the rationale behind choosing an extra keeper when it’s a known fact that Dhoni is going to keep wickets throughout the Test Series. Has Kaarthick traveled several thousands of kilometers just to play in the two-day match against Antigua and Barbuda?? In case of Emergency, Kaarthick or Parthiv Patel can be immediately flown to the Caribbean Islands.
Also it is obvious that Kaarthick is the first choice replacement for Dhoni. So it would have been better if he had been chosen on the India A Squad to Australia, so that he would have match practice rather than jus cool his heels in the pavilion.
It would be interesting to look at the credentials of these jokers who have selected the team. The five selectors from the different zones are –
West Zone: Kiran More (49 Tests and 94 ODIs)
East Zone: Ranjib Biswal (ZERO ODIs)
North Zone: Bhupinder Singh Sr ( 2 ODIs)
Central Zone: Sanjay Jagdale (ZERO ODIs)
South Zone: VB Chandrasekhar (7 ODIs)
A startling fact is that two of them have never represented their country in Cricket (it doesn’t mean the other three have donned India colors for a long time), while none of them barring Kiran More have played a Test match!!! Now here u ve got a body of honorable persons doing an honorable job (yeah… Selectors aren’t paid) deciding the fate of cricketers who are a hundred times more experienced than them.
Strange are the ways of Indian Cricket. Sharad Pawar and his team have promised to give a look into the proposed three-man selection panel. But looks like it will take some time to abolish this quota selection policy.
Until then, we can enjoy the Great Indian Cricket Tamasha with these Jokers…
Long back, 17 years to be precise, Mohinder Amarnath mocked at them and called them A Bunch of Jokers. That was the summer of 1989. It was an eventful year for Indian Cricket. Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble made their debut that year. Kris Srikkanth did a great job in leading the team in Pakistan. But when the team returned from Pakistan, Srikkanth was removed from Captaincy and Amarnath, dropped from the team. The Reason – They protested on behalf of the Team for a hike in the Players’ salary.
Not a single Selection Committee, since then, has tried to shed that tag. With every passing year, the selection committees re-assert that they indeed are jokers.
The present Test Squad for WI tour more than justifies that fact. I shall present some cases which show the gross inconsistency of these selectors –
Case 1 – Ajit Agarkar:
We can only sympathize with this Mumbai lad. He bowled his heart out in the ODI series only to be left out of the Test Squad. The Chairman of Selectors, Kiran More says that his Test Records aren’t that impressive to press his case for selection. Yeah… True... 50 odd wickets in 26 tests at 47 apiece is no great achievement.
But what matters is the present form of the cricketer and his performance in the touring country. Agarkar has taken nine wickets at 18 runs apiece at an economy rate of 3.46 in the ODI series. The performance of the other pace bowlers is better left unsaid. As a matter of fact, apart from Irfan Pathan, the combined experience of the other seamers in the squad is 2 Test matches.
Case 2 – VRV Singh:
Vikram Rajvir Singh was picked by Kiran More on the pretext that they were grooming him for the future. So what wrong did RP Singh do to be dropped?? He is also young and much more experienced than VRV. He has reasons to be unhappy, with the selectors showing him the door after a solitary chance in the first ODI at Kingston.
Case 3 – Ramesh Powar:
I have absolutely no problem with Powar being in the side, though his physique doesn’t exactly suggest the athlete that he is. He has loads of First Class experience and has come through the ranks. But I can easily suggest two reasons why he shouldn’t be in the team –
a) Whatever combination India chose, either five bowlers or four bowlers, there is little chance that he would be selected since Kumble and Harbhajan would be automatic choices, in case India decides to play two spinners.
b) When Kiran More says that he is looking to the future, he should have selected Piyush Chawla as the third spinner in the side rather than looking upto the 28 year old Powar.
c) Also, I strictly believe that Powar is a bits-and-pieces cricketer who can be worthy in the shorter form of the game but might prove to be a liability in a test match.
Case 4 – Dinesh Kaarthick:
I really don’t understand the rationale behind choosing an extra keeper when it’s a known fact that Dhoni is going to keep wickets throughout the Test Series. Has Kaarthick traveled several thousands of kilometers just to play in the two-day match against Antigua and Barbuda?? In case of Emergency, Kaarthick or Parthiv Patel can be immediately flown to the Caribbean Islands.
Also it is obvious that Kaarthick is the first choice replacement for Dhoni. So it would have been better if he had been chosen on the India A Squad to Australia, so that he would have match practice rather than jus cool his heels in the pavilion.
It would be interesting to look at the credentials of these jokers who have selected the team. The five selectors from the different zones are –
West Zone: Kiran More (49 Tests and 94 ODIs)
East Zone: Ranjib Biswal (ZERO ODIs)
North Zone: Bhupinder Singh Sr ( 2 ODIs)
Central Zone: Sanjay Jagdale (ZERO ODIs)
South Zone: VB Chandrasekhar (7 ODIs)
A startling fact is that two of them have never represented their country in Cricket (it doesn’t mean the other three have donned India colors for a long time), while none of them barring Kiran More have played a Test match!!! Now here u ve got a body of honorable persons doing an honorable job (yeah… Selectors aren’t paid) deciding the fate of cricketers who are a hundred times more experienced than them.
Strange are the ways of Indian Cricket. Sharad Pawar and his team have promised to give a look into the proposed three-man selection panel. But looks like it will take some time to abolish this quota selection policy.
Until then, we can enjoy the Great Indian Cricket Tamasha with these Jokers…
posted by VAC | 11:33 PM
3 Comments:
hey no mention abt ganguly!!!
i think u endorse tht decision.
gud to kno the credentials of selectors.
so who will make ideal selectors then??
ur choices??
@Srini : Hey I believe tht Ganguly is still a very good player and has lost out due to the indifference of the selectors towards him. I thought i wouldnt do justice to ganguly if i wrote liitle abt him. I ve reserved a separate post for him.
Reg the Ideal selectors, there must be a criteria reg the no of tests and ODIs a selector has played. And further the junior selection Committee (presently headed by Pravin Amre) needs a dynamic and very senior cricketer at the helm of affairs since most of the players making the cut these days are U-19 Players.
Pathetic, these decisions. However, I will not question the past experience (or the lack of it) of the selectors. I must confess though that the decision-making process is pretty haphazard.
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