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A mockery of selection process

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA Nov. 17. The great selection exercise ended in mockery. True, no selection will satisfy everyone but in this case it was the method — putting off the selection by two days to assess the `talent' available — that left one wondering whether performances count in Indian cricket.

If anything, the selection of the Indian team for Australian tour confirmed the belief that yardsticks vary. The selectors come prepared to promote their candidates, at times at the cost of the team's interest. It was blatantly so this time.

Two eminent wicketkeepers are part of this selection committee, Syed Kirmani and Kiran More. Yet, they chose two non-performing wicketkeepers _ Parthiv Patel and Deep Dasgupta. It is strange that Kirmani, who was critical of these two, seems to have lost his voice once he found a place in the selection committee.

Patel's shoddy work behind the stumps in the recent series against New Zealand was a major cause of concern for the team management. But he has been rewarded because he happens to be undergoing a grooming process.

Nothing wrong with grooming a youngster but then why leave out another youngster, equally deserving of this privilege. Despite knowing his potential, Ajay Ratra has been repeatedly treated shabbily and his exclusion certainly calls for an explanation from the selectors.

Dasgupta, a strong favourite of captain Sourav Ganguly, had done little to merit a place that rightfully belongs to Ratra, who has a Test century against the West Indies to his credit. The selectors have only dented Ratra's confidence with their attitude.

What wrong did L. Balaji commit to lose his place to Irfan Pathan or Avishkar Salvi? If the idea is to provide them with favourable conditions to begin their careers, why not Balaji, who did his reputation no harm on the docile home tracks in the recent past. Rated very high by Javagal Srinath for his commitment to the job, Balaji would have been an ideal bowler on Australian pitches. He and Ratra happen to be in the same boat.

The selectors have also been callous in dealing with Sanjay Bangar, who was, in the season that concluded, described as a sound batsman by Sunil Gavaskar.

The former great had noted that Bangar had the best technique to leave the ball but then the Railways opener had no godfather in the selection committee.

Bangar's Railway-mate Murali Kartik fails to find a place despite being acknowledged as the best spinner in the land. His is a strange case indeed. When the selectors wanted to pick him, there was resistance from the captain. Now when the captain mends his way and presses for Kartik, the selectors do not respond.

The party to Australia leaves without the best slow bowler in the country with the selectors damaging the confidence of one more committed cricketer who, like Venkatapathy Raju in the past, never gets picked when bowling well.

The return of S. Ramesh should be welcomed for it highlights the Tamil Nadu opener's tremendous determination. It also exposes the inconsistency of the selectors. Ramesh returns from an exile he did not deserve and the two-year absence of international cricket would mean that he begins this innings from scratch.

Ramesh's statemate, Hemang Badani, has not been so lucky, sitting out when in peak form.

It is a pity that the promise of transparency in selection has not been given priority. The Board had often spoken of accountability in such matters but the methods have only degenerated over the past few years. The integrity of the selectors is at stake but there is none to deal with this menace of favouritism that afflicts the committee.

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