'Selectors Are A Joke'

The Abhijit Kale episode appears to have opened the Pandora’s box. Wrongedplayers like Vanka Pratap, Ritesh Yadav and others of their ilk are beginning togive vent to their suppressed anger and frustration. The startling stories theyare coming out with conclusively confirm that apart from filthy lucre, blatantnepotism, favouritism and political clout also play a key role in the selectionof certain players at almost every level in Indian cricket.

Joining the bandwagon is the Saurashtra all-rounder Vipul Mehta. Hailing fromJamnagar, which has produced stalwarts like K.S. Ranjitsinhji, K.S. Duleepsinhji,Vinoo Mankad and Salim Durrani, Mehta is known for his commitment andnever-say-die attitude. A highly talented off-spinner and a gutsy, reliablemiddle-order batsman, Mehta has been a very consistent performer in alltournaments conducted by the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) since theearly 1990s. But he has played only two Ranji Trophy matches so far.

Mehta, who turns the ball prodigiously and is not afraid to flight it, can be amatch-winner on his day. He has been a scourge of batsmen in inter-district andother important matches. Just before the start of the current season he hadtaken 15 wickets for Jamnagar against the mighty Bhavnagar. Yet, there was noplace for him in the 20 probables, leave alone in the Saurashtra team. Butplayers incapable of holding a candle to him get selected. Prominent among themare Nayan Doshi and Jaidev Shah, according to Mehta.

"It’s not because of their talent or performances that Nayan and Jaidev havebecome permanent members of Saurashtra. They are not more than average players.But then Nayan is the son of former India spinner Dilip Doshi and Jaidev’sfather is none other than Niranjan Shah, the SCA supremo," alleges Mehta.

"Dilip Doshi may have been born in Rajkot but he did nothing for Saurashtra.He played all his competitive cricket for Bengal, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshireand, of course, India. But he and Shah are said to be distant cousins and happento be chairman and director respectively in a reputed company. Do I need to sayany more?"

But Shah, who has also served as the BCCI secretary, brushes aside such charges."Nayan and Jaidev are picked in the team purely on merit, just like otherSaurashtra players. We’ve a very transparent selection process and we ensurethat the best players are chosen. If Nayan is Dilip Doshi’s son and Jaidevmine, it’s only a coincidence. It’s nothing to do with their selection.There’ve been hundreds of such cases all over the world; even in internationalcricket," Shah says unconvincingly.

The fact is that his son has scored only 255 runs at 15.93 in 9 matches and 16innings at the time of writing this article. Jaidev is primarily a batsman buthis only noteworthy innings so far has been the 76 that he scored againstVidarbh at Nagpur on debut last season. He is a fluent striker of the ball whenin mood and middling form. But most of the times arrogance takes the better ofhim when wielding the willow. This usually happens when one begins to take forgranted his place in the team.

Nayan, who bowls left-arm spin, has not been impressive at all in the last threeseasons except for his five-wicket haul in an innings against the lacklustreServices on a spin-friendly pitch in Delhi the other week. He has neither bowledwell nor taken a bagful of wickets. As regards his tall claims to being an all-rounder,Nayan has seldom or never reached double figures.

Besides being a poor performer, Nayan has had a negative effect on the team,both on and off the field. His unruly behaviour in a Ramakant Desai Trophy one-dayerat Pune cost Altaf Merchant his leadership. Niranjan Shah not only strippedMerchant of his captaincy but also fined him Rs 5000 without listening to hisside of the story. Nayan, the main culprit, was allowed to go scot-free with alighter punishment – a fine of Rs 5000.

"Players like Nayan don’t figure even in the second XIs in the EnglishLeague. This is precisely why he has come to India where the SCA authorities areready to give him a red-carpet welcome for obvious reasons," remarks formerSaurashtra wicketkeeper Manoj Parmar, who invariably forced the selectors topick him on the strength of his performances.

"One particular Saurashtra selector seemed to have a strong dislike for me. Idon’t know why. Maybe he didn’t like my face or the way I used to speak!He’d the gall to tell me, always, that but for my consistently good showingbehind and in front of the stumps, they’d have never played me," revealsParmar, who coached the Scotland team and is currently rendering his services atOxford in the same capacity.

Parmar must consider himself lucky that in spite of their unwillingness, theselectors could not ignore his performance. Yusuf Bambhaniya is not sofortunate. A quality left-arm spinner whom the legendary Rajinder Goel hadcomplimented after a cursory glance at his bowling in the nets, Bambhaniya hasboth the class and the performance to back him. But the selectors, hell-bent onplaying a mediocre like Nayan, are not interested in him. "They’ve madeYusuf a scapegoat to make room for Nayan. If I were a selector, I’d pick Yusuffirst of all in my team. He’s such a fine spinner," emphasises Parmar. 

Bambhaniya has been regularly among wickets but he has not figured in theSaurashtra team for the last four seasons. "We’ve already two left-armspinners in Rakesh Dhruv and Nayan. How can we play Bambhaniya?" argues aselector.

"Besides the big, inevitable Nayan factor, Bambhaniya has become a poorvictim in the ego clash of two selectors," says a SCA insider.

"Is it surprising why mediocrity has crept in the Saurashtra team? Theselectors are a joke. They’re there as a part of procedure only. They’remere puppets in the hands of Niranjan Shah who usually pencils in even theplaying XI. It’s time the SCA was rid of this man and his henchmen who seem tobelieve as if the SCA is their personal property. I suspect there’s a lot ofmalpractice going within the SCA, including on the financial front, and if aneutral, high-level inquiry is conducted, many shocking things will come out,"thunders Vipul Mehta.

But Shah is least bothered. "These’re nothing but rants and raves of afrustrated man. Let Mehta prove these charges. If he can’t, he has no right tocast aspersions on others. Since the BCCI is thinking of increasing the matchfees at every level in domestic cricket, players like Mehta, who aren’tgetting younger, are desperate to play for Saurashtra by hook or by crook. Butwe’re building the team keeping the future in mind. We must look ahead, notback. We want to promote and encourage talented youngsters. And don’t forgetthat Mehta is a chucker and this is one of the main reasons why he doesn’tfigure in our scheme of things," avers the SCA chief.

Does Mehta really throw?

"No way. My action is perfectly all right. I’ve never ever been called byany umpire in any match, not even in Ranji Trophy, in my career till today. Thetruth is that since the SCA can’t give any persuasive reason for overlookingme, Niranjan Shah has come up with this readymade but ridiculous excuse,"stresses Mehta, who has threatened to go on a hunger strike after Christmas infront of the SCA office in Rajkot in protest against the "continualinjustice" done to him by the selectors.