The Hindu : Sport : Changes are in the offing

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Thursday, Nov 30, 2006
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Changes are in the offing

Vijay Lokapally

The selectors do not want to leave things to the whims of the team management

NEW DELHI: The National selectors are likely to give a new perspective to how they approach their job when picking the India team for the three-Test series against South Africa. Since the policy of backing the youth has not yielded the desired results, the selectors are not prepared to accept any further flak.

The selectors, the current lot and the preceding panel, had all along supported the team management (read coach Greg Chappell and captain Rahul Dravid) but now the equation has altered. They want the team management to follow their line of thinking. The current panel has two new members — Dilip Vengsarkar and Venkatpathy Raju — while Sanjay Jagdale, Bhupinder Singh and Ranjib Biswal have been given extensions.

The faith reposed in the likes of Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina has left the selectors embarrassed. Despite unstinted backing, the two have not shown any perceptible progress for various reasons — lack of calibre or loss of form. The selectors may like to return to the experience of Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman not merely in Tests, but in the one-dayers too. The presence of veteran Anil Kumble has provided the encouragement, giving credence to Vengsarkar's recent statement that there was little "exceptional talent" to pick from.

Hopefuls

The selectors, however, are convinced that the time is ripe to blood a youngster like Vijaykumar Yomahesh, the promising 18-year-old Tamil Nadu fast bowler with a penchant to bat too. The claims of 27-year-old Tamil Nadu batting talent S. Badrinath, a prolific scorer in all conditions, cannot also be ignored. The selectors observe that these two should be instantly included in the grooming process that the team management keeps talking about.

It is indeed bewildering that Y. Venugopala Rao, captain of India `A' and known to possess the technique and temperament, does not even remotely figure in the scheme of things. The selectors feel a batsman like Aakash Chopra could help because of his ability to graft, apart from his experience of having played overseas. Survival is the need of the hour and this factor puts Chopra in competition with flamboyant Statemate Gautam Gambhir for the third opener's slot.

The selectors have little choice. Those who pick themselves are Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Laxman, Wasim Jaffer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan and S. Sreesanth.

The selectors have to add two more seamers from Pathan, V.R.V. Singh and Yomahesh. That leaves one batting slot with four candidates — Ganguly, Badrinath, Kaif and Raina.

Ganguly's case

If Ganguly wins the race, it would be simply because the selectors are happy with the way the former India captain has motivated himself and his team, the intensity with which he has worked hard on his fitness and his game, and above all, the passion with which he has played domestic cricket.

Changes are in the offing because the selectors, headed by a man who has played more than 100 Tests, now want to make their point and not leave things to the whims of the team management and its support staff.

The five selectors would meet the Board president Sharad Pawar on Thursday morning before picking the team.

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