After the loss against Pakistan at Chennai there have been questions asked on the team selection policy. India are playing their first tournament following the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar and there is a huge void to fill there. Rohit Sharma was given the place in the 11, but was it the right move?
Have India made a mistake in team selection?
Rohit Sharma is player with caliber and he demonstrated that when he made his T20 debut for India against South Africa in the 2007 T20 World Cup. He came on to play one of the best bowling line ups in the world and came up with a composed half century which paved the way to India’s crucial win in the series. The Right hander from Mumbai though has failed to produce such magic consistently, something which is not acceptable at the highest level. He has been consistently inconsistent recently. Sharma even when he has a lot of time on his hands to play a steady paced innings has been dismissed cheaply and most of the times in single digit scores and ducks.
Another player who has failed to grab on to the opportunities is Ravindra Jadeja. It is baffling why the selectors continue to pick him. It is true that Jadeja was impressive in the domestic scenario but he hasn’t lived up to the hype.
With Rahane in the team maybe Dhoni and co might want to drop Sharma and give Rahane a chance.
Another mistake was selecting Amit Mishra who has done very little for the team in ages. He was not part of the England Test Series. Piyush Chawla and Ojha were part of the squad. Ojha was impressive in the series and Chawla picked up wickets in the final test but neither were selected for the one day series against Pakistan. The question arises why Amit Mishra? Harbhajan Singh has been a very good player for India, it would have been wiser to select him even with his recent dip in form. Harbhajan would have bought some experience into the squad. Similarly omitting Zaheer Khan was also a questionable decision. Zaheer Khan was India’s best bowler for the last 5 years and deserved t be give a second chance when the likes of Jadeja and Rohit Sharma are repeatedly given chances.
India are now relying too much on new comer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The youngster will find the going tough and he doesn’t have the likes of Zaheer Khan to learn from. Ishant Sharma also failed to do much in limited overs cricket. Maybe it is time to bring back the prodigal son Sreeshant. The paceman from south has been impressive for Kerala in the Ranji Trophy and might be the answer to the dying breed in Indian cricket – pace bowlers.
India will certainly miss the all round skills of Irfan Pathan and there is no one in the team who can replace him. Jadeja is definitely not the answer.
A name very few people think of when it comes to team India is Ambatu Raidu of the Mumbai Indians, Raidu was part of the rebel ICL and maybe it is this why he has been constantly overlooked. Raidu’s skill has been one that Indians have witnessed an maybe its time that he is given a chance in the team.
The selection criterion the board is following is not understood because one cannot judge why some of the players were selected. If India can make things work in the Pakistan series then maybe the board will give a silent answer.
Tags: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cricket, India, Pakistan, Rohit Sharma, Team Selection
