What is happening in Indian cricket?

The previous bunch of selectors had done one thing consistently. Picking players from nowhere and dropping them for no reason. Manoj Tiwary, after his splendid century against Windies at Chepauk, was dropped for the next 14 matches despite being in the 17-member squad for CB Series and for Asia Cup also. If the team management doesn’t show faith in him, then why pick him in the squad and not offer a chance to a deserving Manoj Tiwary? Also, Rohit Sharma, who has been given many chances to prove his talent, hasn’t scored even a single half-century for the last couple of months. Then, why do the selectors and Dhoni still persist with Rohit Sharma? Instead, Manoj Tiwary or even Robin Uthappa deserved to be in the squad.

The previous bunch of selectors had also selected Badrinath for their home series against New Zealand following the retirement of VVS Laxman. How did Laxman actually retire? VVS Laxman wasn’t able to make substantial contributions in England and Australia. Srikkanth told Laxman that, “If you don’t score in the NZ Series, you’ll be dropped and this would be your final chance”. What does this actually mean? This in fact forced VVS Laxman to call it a day. Subsequent to his retirement, Badrinath was selected for the Test series and he wasn’t given a chance to play in the XI in the two Test matches. Also, Ishant Sharma, who played exceedingly well in the domestic circuit, had been kept outside of the playing XI. If Dhoni isn’t interested and has no confidence in playing them, then why do the selectors pick them in the squad? It’s a question yet to be answered by the selectors.

How many of you remember the ‘rotation policy’? Sehwag said that “Why should I have a chat with him? If he and the Coach thinks that it’s time to give a break, I am okay with that and we’re one unit. We are happy and he’s the captain. He can say whatever he wants to say and he has been addressing the media for couple of years”. When Dhoni was asked about captaincy and his contenders, this is what he had to say: “It’s not my choice and my choice would be me. As far as the contenders are concerned, there are many…..we have Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Gambhir”. It’s good to see that Dhoni admits that there are contenders. But the fact remains is when we talk about the rotation policy it was so bizarre, even though Sehwag mentioned that captain made the right call. My only question is if there was so much clarity in selection when VVS Laxman was not performing and Sehwag was not performing, why couldn’t a youngster at that time been given a chance? If you give greater amount of importance to youngsters, suddenly they’ll start replacing seniors in the squad and that will not work. As a consequence, what does the entire rotation policy mean? However, Dhoni would be able to answer this question.

It’s Dhoni’s choice as he doesn’t discuss anything with the Coach and actually he’s the supreme boss. There’s no problem in obeying the boss but yet he has to ensure some amount of clarity and foresee whether it would lead to success. It was not the time to experiment, especially playing in Australia where a win would have desperately given a huge amount of confidence to the selectors as well as to the players. But Dhoni had other ideas than trying to win in Australia. Even after the 0-8 drubbing in England and Australia, BCCI did not want to push him.

How come Zaheer Khan is saying that ‘If I am not playing all the three formats I won’t be able to perform’. For that you have to be fit to play in all the three formats and his teammates are also watching. India is suffering right now because of Zaheer’s lack of form.

Now there are so many questions. Should the selectors take a bold step by dropping Gambhir and Sehwag? Should they remove Dhoni from captain? Should they look for backup for the ageing Zaheer Khan? Should they offer a chance to deserving players like Murali Vijay instead of an experienced opener Gambhir and Sehwag? Virender Sehwag and Gambhir haven’t combined to produced magical innings for the last couple of years, which is a worrying factor for India. If they’re not performing you may say send them back to the domestic level. But keep in mind that Gambhir and Sehwag are ageing along with Zaheer Khan. Atleast you’ll see both of them together for atleast next couple of years and for the 2015 World Cup, fitness will play a part for Sehwag and Gambhir. It’s actually important for India to have these players for 2015 World Cup which is going to be played in Australia. And, we have a tough series looming against South Africa and a Champions Trophy next year. Anyway, the selectors therefore have to drop the openers and this is in fact the right time to experiment the youngsters, who have done outstandingly well at the domestic level.

After the 2011 World Cup what has MSD’s record as skipper been like? Very bad, however that’s directly attributed to the performance of his teammates as a captain cannot take the entire blame. As far as MSD’s captaincy is concerned, Mohinder Amarnath believes that Dhoni cannot enter into the test side on merit. Now he’s also in the selection panel and will certainly keep an eye on Dhoni’s performance. If he’s not performing he maybe axed as Indian skipper from the test side. However, it’s such a rare case as Dhoni has got full support from India and from many pundits. Dhoni should continue as Indian skipper as at present nobody looks like replacing him. He has been India’s finest skipper and he just needs to change his attitude. He has to be a bit more aggressive as skipper and needs to use his best bowlers in critical situations. He has to get the spark on, and once he gets that, he will be unstoppable as skipper and the CL T20 should silence his critics. If he’s able to produce results with CSK, then he conveys a message to selectors that “I will be able to produce result with the desired side”. The selectors will, to some extent, have to look into that statement.

As far as Zaheer Khan is concerned, he has been an extraordinary bowler for India. But age is also catching up with him, so we need to look at a back up for Zaheer Khan. There are contenders but it’s difficult to choose who should lead the pace-attack. Well, the contenders are Dinda, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav. While Yadav needs to play a lot of cricket, Dinda and Ishant look likely to lead the pace-attack after Zaheer Khan.

Dhoni also said that “Zaheer Khan is the best bowler and the day he calls it off, I would straightaway put him as bowling Coach”. Why not do that with young Indian pacers who are struggling in overseas conditions? It’s a pathetic situation.

The new group of selectors have an uphill task on their hand and need to look at the performance of the seniors and at the same time offer chance to deserving youngsters like Badrinath, Tiwary, Vijay and Rahane. It will be interesting to see the squad that is picked for the Test series against England. They should select the squad according to the wickets that are prepared and also the opposition.