Monday, August 17, 2009

India On The Right Move

The selectors have done the accurate move by evoking Rahul Dravid for ODIs. The move to drop him was a bad decision in the first place. The selectors felt that Dravid at 34 was too old for ODIs and there were juvenile cricketers all set to take his place. Both the premises have proved to be wrong.

Dravid has since re - invented his game to play the Twenty20 format of game. He was outstanding at the IPL championship in South Africa this year. In disparity, the players who swapped Dravid have botched to establish themselves in the squad. They couldn't play straight seam bowling or the short ball. It is only sensible to wait for that their technical limitations will be exposed on the bouncy tracks in South Africa, the venue for the Champions Trophy. In contrast, Dravid has a extraordinary ODI record on South African pitches. He has scored 850 runs in 27 matches with an average of 44.73. He can acclimatize his batting according to the circumstances and is one of the best finishers in the game.

Team India has to field its best players. The importance must be on performance and not non-cricket categories like youth. The arguable point is whether the batsman is scoring runs and is a sensibly good fielder. If he be eligible on both grounds, he has to play. A good team must have a mix of adolescence and experience. Team India has a youthful feel about it and the only player in the squad who is over 30 is Sachin Tendulkar. Dravid will bring in a count of experience and can guide young players in the team. Few international players have scored over 10,000 runs in ODIs and Tests.

Indian selectors must learn a lesson or two from their Australian complements about team selection. Australians play their best players until they slow down. Young players are made to serve their apprenticeship until there is a vacancy in the side. We emerge to fast-track young players and their inexperience and immaturity show up when they play international cricket. Blood 16-year-olds if they have the aptitude of a Tendulkar, otherwise wait for them to grow and allow their game to established. That way they'll serve the team for long.

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