Keyur Mandrekar:
BCCI Selection: The Men in Blue lost the third and final ODI at Capetown making it 3-0 in favor of South Africa. This follows the 2-1 result in the test series where the same Men in Blue dawned white. This series may come as an eye opener to a few considering South African team are in transition themselves, not to factor the skin-based selection policy that they have in place. (BCCI Selection)
To take a step back and realize, eight months back, India toured Sri Lanka where statements were made about Team India being able to sport 2 separate teams that can compete the very best in any part of the world. What could have caused this sudden downfall that eight months later, the same team India, under a new management, a new leadership cannot try newer faces and have to appoint a 34-year-old captain who will be backed by a defensive vice-captain with no prominent domestic record – neither in IPL or at the domestic level. (BCCI Selection)
Not too long ago, team India was banking on two all rounders in the form of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja who could have walked into the XI of any formats that Team India played. The curious case of Hardik Pandya where injuries limited him to being a batsman, who had a back surgery, and has never looked to have recovered enough to be back in contention. Add to that his batting flaws exposed to a certain extent and he has fallen down way back in the pecking order. Surprisingly so, he finds himself captaining an IPL side in Ahmedabad. Did we miss something? (BCCI Selection)
Much has been said about team India backing players during tough times and that brings us to Rahane and Pujara. Seems more like bragging rights for BCCI and IPL, when we talk about having a bench strength and yet continue to keep giving a longer rope to players who have performed below standards for over 3 years now.
Coming back to the XI, with captain Rohit taking charge, it might be a no brainer that Suryakumar Yadav might find himself getting an extended run to stabilize that middle order with Virat and Shreyas Iyer. Shifting from the middle order to the middle overs, we cannot help but talk about Kuldeep Yadav, who was once destined to be the next big thing in Indian cricket, then not given an extended rope like some of the other non-performers, which we shall not name – Rahane and Pujara – but now has been brought back. Considering no domestic cricket being played and Kuldeep not having the best of IPLs, the question still stays out there, what merits him back?
On the brighter side, reports are emerging that Ranji trophy will finally commence in two phases this year. It would be good to see players giving it their all with a desire to make it big. As of now, many more questions than answers that we have when it comes to some of the decisions made by BCCI in recent days. Is it now that we can say, statistics and numbers are limited to debates and discussions by fans, but decisions are solely made behind closed doors and can never be questioned? (BCCI Selection)
BCCI Selection
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