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Pucca For Dacca?

Our selectors are only Indian: still dithering on team selection

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Pucca For Dacca?
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If column inches were a criterion, Indian captain Rahul Dravid would always be the man for those pragmatic, boring stories. Like the way he kept telling every interviewer who shoved a mike at him that theICC World Cup 2007 wasn’t an end in itself but only a milestone on a fascinating journeyfor Team India. Well, that one’s become a millstone around his neck for even he wouldn’t have reckoned on the trip becoming the low point in the history of post-’83 Indian cricket—and perhaps in the careers of some of our legends.

The big guns of the Board of Control for Cricket in India met in Mumbai last Thursday, ostensibly to draw up yet another roadmap for Indian cricket’s future. But few firm details emerged, except that the selectors will meet again in the city on April 20. So speculation continues about the kind of team that will be picked for the Bangladesh tour. The members will assemble in Calcutta for a camp (May 1-7) and continue on to Dhaka where the firstODI is due on May 10. A couple of ODIs more, and then it’s the two Tests (starting May 18 and 25). 

A national selector Outlook talked to seemed as much in the dark as the rest of our billion. "We haven’t been told anything yet and I don’t think it is fair to assume anything.... Come to think of it, we’re never told what to do and are usually driven by the captain and coach’s inputs." Of course, he did admit to being aware that theBCCI working committee wants a young team to Bangladesh under an experienced captain. 

"We have already appointed Dravid as captain for India’s tour to Bangladesh, Ireland and England. We cannot, however, get emotional and pick a raw team to Bangladesh. It has to be thought through. Remember, we did try out a number of youngsters in the last two years or so when Greg Chappell was coach...some of these players did not grab the opportunities we gave them." 

"You have to concede that there was a sincere attempt to build a bunch of players who would replace the established players when they fade away from the international scene," the selector said. "I don’t think we will try wholesale changes in the line-up, surely not with Bangladesh actually proving to be a very competitive outfit. At the end of the day, it really depends on the vision that the captain and coach have for the team. We shall have to consider the short-term and long-term implications."

Of course, since the board itself hasn’t got a long-term vision for the Indian team, Dravid’s inputs will be critical. You can be sure the selectors will be reminding him again that they backed his decision to let Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh stay in the team for the Cup. 

Meanwhile, unlike in the past board taipans are in no mood to show consideration for any player. It must be remembered here that some of them played no mean role in egging on Sourav Ganguly’s return earlier this season. But with the first round crash ’n burn in the Caribbean, and the someone-must-pay mood all around, no one’s willing to back anyone for anything. 

The only player who’s been spared is Sachin Tendulkar, despite his 7 and 0 in India’s twin defeats to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the Cup. A senior board official explained the rationale. "He has had a glittering career and we believe in the autumn of it Tendulkar should be spared the experience of being dropped...or rested." The likes of Ganguly, Harbhajan, Sehwag and even Yuvraj Singh may not be as lucky as Indian cricket takes its first hesitant steps towards a new beginning.

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