Selectors choices

Faisal Shariff

Mere char log aagaye," (Four of my players are in) quipped Shivlal Yadav, South zone national selector, after the Test squadron for the South Africa series was chosen.

It was merely a joke, an ironic one, defining the sad face of Indian cricket. Zonal politics overtaking national interest has been the bane of the Indian selection structure.

The team chosen for the South African Test series left me searching for questions. Questions about the selection psyche; about the calibre of the selectors. The answers at the press conference to questions are answered with such contempt that it makes you feel as if they are insulting your intelligence or your memory.

So, Sameer Dighe gets selected as the second wicketkeeper, because he adds experience to the side as well eases the load of the five games to be played (three Tests and two first-class games) on a single wicketkeeper, Deep Das Gupta.

The same selection meeting keeps harping on giving youth a chance, and takes a step forward only to make such selections which serve to move two steps behind.

On what basis has Dighe being selected? This is the same man who deserted the Mumbai team he was to lead to Kenya after he was sacked following a lacklustre performance in Sri Lanka.

When contacted after his selection, he discreetly sidestepped my query as to why he abandoned the Mumbai team to Kenya after being dropped.

"Everyone has a dream to play for the country and I was very disappointed at being dropped. But now I am mentally prepared for anything and the selection has given me another chance to play for my country."

Secondly, chairman of selectors Chandu Borde stated that Connor Williams and Wasim Jaffer were considered for the opener’s slot following Ramesh’s withdrawal from the squad.

The question is that if Jaffer was being seriously considered then what was the logic in not including him in the Rest of India team to play the Irani Trophy match against Ranji champions, Baroda?.

Connor Williams, playing for Baroda scored a chancy and dodgy innings of 143, with six lives and booked his berth on the flight to South Africa.

When I caught up with him while he was playing a local match at the MIG club in Bombay, representing Roofit against Air India, he confessed that his first innings ton against ROI in the Irani Trophy wasn’t a very satisfying knock.

“The 83 in the second innings was a better knock," he added. In all probability, it was also the knock that punctured all hopes for Jaffer, who played a lower division game at the Brabourne stadium a few days later and top-scored with 174.

Borde added that since Williams was a left-hander it would work more to the benefit of the team if he opened with Das, a right-hander.

Every time Borde was cornered about the wisdom of a selection, he tersely closed all debate with a "it was a committee decision" reply.

Ashok Malhotra was very critical of the fact that the team's overseas failures were almost always blamed on the bowlers.

"Tell me one instance when the team has been let down by bad bowling in Tests abroad? It is a myth. What can the bowling of any side do if the team's batsmen can't put up decent totals on the board? It's time the batting got its act right," he concluded.

So, what would the team need to do to succeed in South Africa?

"Don’t ask me. I am a piddly selector," was his retort.

"That is the job of John Wright and Madan Lal, who has been a coach. I don’t know about what the team needs to do to win in South Africa."

So, what are the parameters a selector looks at when picking a team? I'd like to know...

Malhotra also dismissed the variety theory religiously followed by the Indian cricket administrators.

"Sharandeep today is easily amongst the top three spinners in the country. So what, if he is an off-spinner as well? We have earlier taken a variety of spinners and they have let us down. So what’s the whole point? Just take your best spinners. I understand that Sharandeep lost out again but South African tracks will assist seam bowling."

While on the subject of spinners, here’s one to remember, Murali Kartik. The Railways left-armer is reckoned by many as one of the best spinner in the country, but is he a victim of selection politics?

Last year, this left-armer picked nine wickets in an innings in the Irani trophy and was anointed by the selectors as the future of Indian spin. Today, there isn't a single mention of his name in the selection meetings.

Some say skipper Ganguly doesn’t think too highly of him whereas some other senior team members rate him a perfect ten. The fact is that he is pitted against another left-armer from his zone who is politically very well-connected. A selector and a former spinning great had been pulled out of some legal violation by the left-armer's father and hence, it is believed, his selection is a courteous return of favour.

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