Tags:
Journalism of Courage
If one were to mention the name of Sanjay Raul, the instinctive reaction would be: "Sanjay Raul who?" The Orissa lad himself will, in all probability, have only a faint idea of his "brush" with the India cap! The reason: He was dumped even as he was trying to get used to the dressing room environs.
That, in a nutshell, has been the Indian cricket board’s formula of keeping everyone happy, so that their own flock remains together, even if that means compromising with the India cap. The respective state associations have to be kept happy.
When Jacob Martin stepped on to the Toronto ground, he became the 35th player to wear the national colours in 71 one-dayers India have played sinceJanuary 1998. The Baroda youngster would only be wishing that he gets a fair trial, unlike most of the others.
Of the 34, 11 have played in a collective total of 18 matches. Agreed, some were relatively unknown outside their own state but where was the reason to "push" them into the team in the first place? And, having done so, why give them a feeling of being unwanted now? Some of the youngsters have been so badly treated, they won’t even have a heart for another battle now. Or, was it that the board was "forced" to show their reserve strength as the main players were becoming victims of the "wear and tear" of international cricket, going down with injuries one by one? Then, why play so much? Well, that’s a different case. Let’s stick to selection.
Have we gained anything from this kind of experimentation? No. The Indian team went to the World Cup without a left-arm spinner (despite trying out four since January ’98), it still lacks an explosive wicket-keeper batsman (tried three), doesn’t have a settledbatting order and, worse still, their main hope, Anil Kumble’s magic is already showing signs of wearing off.
If you thought the latest faux pas involving Mithun Manhas and Ashish Nehra was just a one-off case, here is something more amusing: After the hard-hitting Madhya Pradesh allrounder Jai Prakash Yadav’s name figured in the selection committee meeting last summer, he was "inducted" in to the side. But guess who actually made full use of that? The Uttar Pradesh opener Jyoti Yadav, as his initials matched those of the deserving one! Amidst all the confusion, the selectors finally realised their mistake, but did a volte face. They justified Jyoti Yadav’s selection instead. By the way, where is Jyoti Yadav now?
Australia waited for more than 10,000 first-class runs each from Mark Waugh and Darren Lehmann before giving them a chance to play for the country. On the other hand, Sri Lanka allowed Marvan Atapattu to flower, after one of the most disastrous starts to international cricket. Also Pakistan havealways encouraged youngsters to rub shoulders with the best. Two different selection policies but the success rate justifies the means. The key is Perseverance, with a capital P.
India’s selection policy can be compared with that of England’s. Panic sets in English cricket when their team loses and the team is shuffled, and reshuffled, with the result that ordinary county cricketers get a chance to play in international cricket and the team goes from bad to worse. There are apprehensions of India going the England way already.
