Who's in charge of India's resources?

[MCcricket]

As most of us who avidly follow cricket and look at talent in a unbiased fashion, free of regional or any other favouritism, Srikant and his fellow selectors seem to have no set policy, goal , plan, are seemingly very biased towards certain regions or players.Most players in the Indian setup select themselves, the selectors job is to select the remaining few based on potential or grooming a talented player who has shown skills and might not necessarily have figures in domestic to back that in a short buddding career. Selectors seemingly pick players on whims and fancy also mediocre players are persisted and pushed for who instead of strengthening the squad make it look weak. The English tour was one of the worst and most of it could be blamed to poor planning, injury management and slections which should be more of the BCCI and selectors fault.As voices for their heads became louder some mandatory changes were made like Umesh , Varun but the overall theme is the same. Players who could have been handled differently. Tyagi is among the few domestic bowlers who can come good at international level, he was given some ODI'S and then discarded, now languishing after with injury and trying to make a comeback. Gony is one bowler who is far different then most domestic trundlers, has pace, excellent bounce, is fit, very tall, has done excellently in last two years, he was tried for couple of ODI'S and then discarded. Dinda is one bowler that impressed Ponting and Dad a lot, could bowl in 140's , swing, skiddy pace and a trier, tried in some ODI'S then discarded.All these bowlers look better then the current domestic bowlers and have experience but have been unfairly treated, they have pace and skills to have the best chance to succeed. On the other hand the mediocre players which were given a long rope , due to favouritism , regionalism are. Mithun he looked good when he first bowled in IPL , bowled at 140's , had a side on actions and got good bounce, so there was some potential , now with his changed action, which is awkward and not the best, he has lost pace, bounce, also doesn't have skills with the ball, selectors are just pushing for him , maybe instead of improving , working on his bowling his career is being ruined as he looks very mediocre. Aravind is one bowler whose selection came out of the blue, he bowls 125 to 132, bowls more slower ones then the normal deliveries ala Prasad, would have been easy meat at international level. V Kumar though has redeemed himslef with his limited pace , he seems to have some control and movement to be ok at ODI'S, he was given a very long rope, which more talented bowlers were not given R P Singhs selection as replacement in England might be the worst blunder selection wise this year among all cricket playing nations lol. Selections with their foresight and knowledge base should be aware that stats are not the only factor , as domestic numbers are not a good indicator of talent, mediocre players also tend to flourish , dead tracks, mediocre bats, trundlers tend to get wickets in these environments , fast bowlers do not get assistance on most Indian tracks. Abu Nechim Ahmed, Pawan Suyal, Anwar Ahmed, Shami Ahmed,Faizal Dudhat, Rohit Sharma,Uday Kaul, Gony, Dinda, some of these players are experienced, some rookies ,Tyagi , VRV, KAMRAN kHAN, WHY ARE THESE PLAYERS NOT BEING GROOMED FOR HIGHER HONOURS AS THEY SEEM TO HAVE THE BEST CHANCES TO SUCCEED, why can't the selectors, BCCI with all the money , resources not look at Australia, England, see how they take care of players recuperating from injuries who comeback as better bowlers, why dont we have a sports performance centers for the rookies who have good skills, why aren't we building the right bench strength, selecting the right backup players. Selectors , BCCI seem to not have a plan , goal, process to identify good players, give a talented rookie a break, take care of recovering players, why are we building a bench strength or weakness comprising of mediocre trundlers, or proven failures.Why does selections smack of regionalism, everything BCCI , selectors do is a short term fix or respond to failures only, not planning, organisation, identifying a pool.

[Dravid_TheWall]

There are some on ICF who are obsessed with certain players too, I am sure selectors have this problem as well. Everyone is human and prone to this kind of error unfortunately. Look how MS backs his boys? Since Ganguly retired we have been determined to try ODI specialists at no6 in tests and less glamourous players have not been given the same rope. Need an overhaul of selection process.

[gsivak]

Whether we approve or not, I think the selectors and the team management have some kind of system in place. They tend to give players some time before discarding them e.g. Rohit, Jadeja, Vijay, etc. To give them credit players who didn't click the first few times did come good later on (like Rohit and Jadeja). Dhoni oftens talks about the huge difference between International and FC games, players need some time in the international set up before they start delivering. Mithun has not set the world on fire with his performance but that doesn't mean we discard him to favor another.

[BeautifulGame]

Problems is people will always find faults with whoever is selected.Everyone has their favourites and hence selectors are always criticized whatever their selection is and will be accused of regionalism.Its an age old trait. The best thing selectors can do is explain their selections to the media after every selection meeting.This will reduce a lot of confusions why certain players are selected and stop accusions of favouritism.

[gakgupta]

Whether we approve or not' date=' I think the selectors and the team management have some kind of system in place. They tend to give players some time before discarding them e.g. Rohit, Jadeja, Vijay, etc. To give them credit players who didn't click the first few times did come good later on (like Rohit and Jadeja). Dhoni oftens talks about the huge difference between International and FC games, players need some time in the international set up before they start delivering. Mithun has not set the world on fire with his performance but that doesn't mean we discard him to favor another.[/quote'] mithun has not set the the world on fire and he will never do that, as we clearly see no potential in him.....no pace, no swing, no bounce and no movement of the seam......and how in the world he can be successful in intl cricket. He can maintain good line and length & for that he can get domestic wickets not intl.

[Needforspeed]

I think all our selectors are armchair selectors. I doubt if any of them actually go and watch players play. They just pick them on the basis of statistics in domestic cricket. Especially in case of fast bowlers most of the successful ones in domestic cricket are trudlers whereas the genuine quick ones tend to be expensive-This is due to the nature of our wickets. Look at Pakistan...since the time of Imran Khan the policy of their selectors for the national tem has been not to even consider bowlers who bowl at less than 135 K irrespective of their domestic record. Secondly, most of the selectors (and many supporters) dont seem to be in touch with modern day International cricket realities. No test team today has trudlers bowling at 120-125 K whereas in India the whole country was clamouring to for Irfan Pathan who now bowls at 118-125 K. Forget about Pakistan, Australia, S.Africa, New Zealand, W.Indies and England. Even Zimbabwe and Bangladesh select players who bowl at good pace. Thirdly the BCCI has no system now in place to spot talent and develop them especially when it comes to pace bowlers. There is more than enough talent in the county. The board should appoint specialised talent scouts for fast bowlers, Shortlist 8-10 135K+ bowlers give them some small contracts, recruit a good bowling coach (can be overseen by Eric Simmons) and give him the task of developing them. Based on his feedback and emergence of new bowlers they can update this list. The same process can be followed for batsmen. Fourthly, at least one of the selectors should be someone who has represented India as a pacer. The present committee has 4 batsmen and one spinner. Two of them have absolutely no international exposure. (Srikant, M.Amarnath, N.Hirwani, Raja Venkat and Surendra Bhave). Fifthly, the scourge of India-internal politics. It goes deeper than regionalism. It involves punishing all boards who voted against the present incumbants in the last BCCI elections. It is reflected in deciding the venues for International matches and selecting their players. The talent is there but most of them fall by the wayside. It is a joint conspiracy. The press and commentators keep promoting players who they feel are in the good books of BCCI. Do you ever hear of our so called experts like Harsha Bogle ever talk about anyone other than the BCCI favorites. Ever hear of Shastri or Gavaskar talk about a Abu Nechim, Dinda or a Rahul Shulka.

[MCcricket]

I think all our selectors are armchair selectors. I doubt if any of them actually go and watch players play. They just pick them on the basis of statistics in domestic cricket. Especially in case of fast bowlers most of the successful ones in domestic cricket are trudlers whereas the genuine quick ones tend to be expensive-This is due to the nature of our wickets. Look at Pakistan...since the time of Imran Khan the policy of their selectors for the national tem has been not to even consider bowlers who bowl at less than 135 K irrespective of their domestic record. Secondly, most of the selectors (and many supporters) dont seem to be in touch with modern day International cricket realities. No test team today has trudlers bowling at 120-125 K whereas in India the whole country was clamouring to for Irfan Pathan who now bowls at 118-125 K. Forget about Pakistan, Australia, S.Africa, New Zealand, W.Indies and England. Even Zimbabwe and Bangladesh select players who bowl at good pace. Thirdly the BCCI has no system now in place to spot talent and develop them especially when it comes to pace bowlers. There is more than enough talent in the county. The board should appoint specialised talent scouts for fast bowlers, Shortlist 8-10 135K+ bowlers give them some small contracts, recruit a good bowling coach (can be overseen by Eric Simmons) and give him the task of developing them. Based on his feedback and emergence of new bowlers they can update this list. The same process can be followed for batsmen. Fourthly, at least one of the selectors should be someone who has represented India as a pacer. The present committee has 4 batsmen and one spinner. Two of them have absolutely no international exposure. (Srikant, M.Amarnath, N.Hirwani, Raja Venkat and Surendra Bhave). Fifthly, the scourge of India-internal politics. It goes deeper than regionalism. It involves punishing all boards who voted against the present incumbants in the last BCCI elections. It is reflected in deciding the venues for International matches and selecting their players. The talent is there but most of them fall by the wayside. It is a joint conspiracy. The press and commentators keep promoting players who they feel are in the good books of BCCI. Do you ever hear of our so called experts like Harsha Bogle ever talk about anyone other than the BCCI favorites. Ever hear of Shastri or Gavaskar talk about a Abu Nechim, Dinda or a Rahul Shulka.

I agree because of the structure, lack of communication, also favouritism, selectors make choices or decisions which we all feel either are nor right or the selectors are not actually aware of what is happening at domestic levels.India also needs a really good fast bowling consultant who is experienced at international level to look at the pool of fast bowlers at domestic level and make the selectors aware of the bowlers and their potential, so duds like Mithun, VK , other trundlers dont get selected.

[Sachin=GOD]

There are some on ICF who are obsessed with certain players too' date= I am sure selectors have this problem as well. Everyone is human and prone to this kind of error unfortunately. Look how MS backs his boys? Since Ganguly retired we have been determined to try ODI specialists at no6 in tests and less glamourous players have not been given the same rope. Need an overhaul of selection process.

says the biggest fanatic of Sreesath. So which Test specialists would you have picked immediately after Ganguly retired??? Players like Rahane, Mukund, Pujara, Kohli, Rohit etc were not exactly ready for Test cricket when Ganguly retired and Yuvraj was in good form so he was given chances but now that these guys have come up and look like they are ready, they will be given chances.

[Dravid_TheWall]

says the biggest fanatic of Sreesath.

I am a realist, not a fanatic. Sree is a star. Look at your username, Sachin=God, very embarassing and childlike behaviour.

So which Test specialists would you have picked immediately after Ganguly retired??? Players like Rahane, Mukund, Pujara, Kohli, Rohit etc were not exactly ready for Test cricket when Ganguly retired and Yuvraj was in good form so he was given chances but now that these guys have come up and look like they are ready, they will be given chances.

Badri for one even Kaif at that time. Both were better test prospects than UV and Raina.

[Sachin=GOD]

I am a realist' date=' not a fanatic. Sree is a star. Look at your username, Sachin=God, [b'] very embarassing and childlike behaviour. Badri for one even Kaif at that time. Both were better test prospects than UV and Raina.

says the fan of Sreesanth :hehe:

[Old guy]

when ganguly retired i would ve picked yuvraj no question about it even now i think yuvraj is not totally out if he performs and tighten up his technique he can come back to tests! remeb fab 3 are not really going to stay here for long maybe 2 years tops 1 of them will retire in 2012 so there are going be some empty places

[MCcricket]

With recent articles about CSA ,Kirsten's interview gives us the insight on meticulous hunt for talent at grass root and all other levels, the excellent chain of communication, where the goal of a sporting body should be identify groom talent, generating more interest, players with talent not getting lost, same with CA, CNZ,that makes u aware how bad BCCI and its bodies are in those terms. Talent scouting is more or less non existent at grass root levels here, NCA doesn't play much part in those terms, there is no consultant for talent spotting or n/w, our selectors and BCCI are very bad at grooming bowlers, spotting talent, most state level officials organisations are weak or not working in the right direction as well. Communication between selectors, BCCI , STATE LEVEL Boards is weak.This is where BCCI should improve, there is no talent identification, grooming process set, selectors are not aware of potential talent and are selecting wrong players for formats of cricket,also selecting players based on stats is not identifying talent as the domestic numbers are not related to talent or potential as mediocricity thrives at domestic levels.Not many selectors or BCCI officials have the knowledge or expertise in selecting or grooming potential pacers , this is where we have been the weakest,our selections of backup bowlers is atrocious.

[MCcricket]

The boys from the bushFor a while now South Africa's quicks have emerged from small towns not known for cricket. And the trend is likely to continue Firdose Moonda December 22, 2011 Dale Steyn: "The most important thing about fast bowling is natural talent. We're not going to find our next fast bowler from the best school, but we'll have to find who is the most natural" © AFP Teams: South Africa There are many sights to behold on a South African safari: the much sought-after Big Five, countless different types of buck, and skies so clear you can count the stars. Sometimes a rarer breed can also be spotted: a fast bowler. Although unlikely to be seen pouncing out of knee-high grass, South Africa's "bush bowlers" are increasingly becoming international cricketers. Zululand, Mdingi, Middledrift, Phalaborwa, Vereeniging, Ravensmead and Tzaneen will sound like the names of other planets to those not familiar with South Africa, but they were and have been the breeding grounds for Lance Klusener, Makhaya Ntini, Mfuneko Ngam, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Marchant de Lange. After Shaun Pollock, who came from a family with a rich cricketing heritage, and was schooled in Durban, most of the country's prominent bowlers in the last decade have come from less glamorous places. With so many of South Africa's current cricketers emerging from small towns, more resources will be put into finding them, because of the rationale that they will make robust cricketers. "They are mentally tougher and not as pampered as other players in their early days," Peter Kirsten, the former Test batsman, who has done extensive coaching work in the Border area, said. "And they are also hungrier." Small-town circumstances allow these cricketers to develop in a different way to their counterparts, who attend traditionally strong sporting schools and are raised in cities. Steyn, the world's top-ranked Test bowler, is probably the best example of this. He comes from the mining town of Phalaborwa, which sounds like an industrial hole but is actually representative of the Africa people see in brochures. In the Limpopo province skies are clear, sunshine is golden and warm even in winter, the Kruger National Park is a stone's throw away, and growing up involves getting grubby with nature, not vegetating in front of a television screen. It was here that Steyn learned to play cricket. "There were only two cricket clubs, and both of them were in Tzaneen," he recalled, remembering the 100-kilometre drives he had to complete on vast, open roads every weekend to play a league match. "And there were very few teams in the league. But I was young, 14 or 15, and I was playing club cricket. In a small town, when you are good at something, you stand out. In a big city, a 14-year-old won't embarrass a 30-year-old, but in a small town it can happen, and it gave me a bit of confidence." Despite his obvious talent as a bowler, Steyn was more interested in skateboarding and was only persuaded to go for trials at the Northerns Cricket Union by a friend who convinced him that the recreational activities would be worth it. "He told me the nightlife in Hatfield [a student suburb in Pretoria] is great," Steyn said. "When I got there, I shat myself." He wasn't the only one jolted on arrival to the big city. Former South Africa bowling coach Vincent Barnes spotted Steyn at the University of Pretoria (Tukkies) academy and was immediately impressed. "He was the fastest bowler I had seen in that age group for a long time. He bowled ten overs, and about 15 no-balls. I asked him to come back to play an inter-academy game a few days later. His lips were all cut because he had been hit in the nets, but when you see a youngster coming in and bowling that fast, you get excited." Steyn's career had begun. He was approached by Eersterust Cricket Club to play for them for two months. "They offered me R400 a day [about US$57]. I was actually earning money to play club cricket," he said. Years later, Steyn's IPL contract with the Deccan Chargers was worth $1.2 million. His journey from small-town hopeful to big-time hero was complete. "When I was younger I idolised a lot of sportsmen, like Tiger Woods and Roger Federer, and I put them on a pedestal. But now that I have travelled the world, I can tell you that they are just normal human beings. It's not impossible for anyone to do what you see on television. You just have to do it." "They are mentally tougher and not as pampered as other players in their early days. And they are also hungrier" Peter Kirsten on why small-town bowlers are more successful Steyn's biggest asset has been the ability to swing the ball at pace, and growing up in Phalaborwa possibly helped. "When you are not coached in the traditional sense, you push yourself to the limit, and sometimes you don't know what that is," Barnes said. "It definitely allows youngsters to express themselves." He said Philander was another example of this school of self-discovery. Philander grew up in Ravensmead, an area on the Cape Flats where life in general can be a battle. It is an area with a long history of cricket, but the heritage of the game among people of colour has been somewhat forgotten. "You learn your cricket the hard way," Barnes said. Both Steyn and Philander, who now open the bowling for South Africa in Test cricket, learnt their basic skills by trial and error. According to Kirsten, this creates players more willing to take coaching seriously, when they do get it. "They are prepared to take advice," he said. "Mentoring is very important for those players." In Ntini's case the mentoring came at an early age, when he was offered a scholarship to Dale College, one of the most prestigious schools in the country. The move paid off for Ntini, who went to become a legend of the South African game, but it was criticised because it took him away from his home, where he could have passed his knowledge on to others. Steyn has already spawned a successor in de Lange. The 21-year-old is from Tzaneen, where Steyn travelled to play club cricket, and though he did not attend the same academy, de Lange cites Steyn as one of his heroes. "Marchant is in awe of Dale Steyn," Allan Donald said, while Steyn said de Lange reminds him of his younger self. "I see a lot of myself in Marchant. He just loves to go fishing, and bowl and bowl some more." Like for Steyn, cricket was not de Lange's only love. At school he was a javelin thrower, which inspired his short run-up. "I had to work my way up from Ben Vorster School and got a break when I was picked for the Tukkies Academy," de Lange said. He would have played for South Africa Under-19s but missed out because he broke both his ankles the year he was due to represent them. de Lange has since recovered, made a name for himself at Easterns and been catapulted into the South African side. Hardus Viljoen, who is from the coal-mining town of Witbank, played with de Lange at Easterns and is being talked up as the next youngster to watch. Kirsten believes there is no formula to determine when someone should be absorbed into the mainstream but thinks that CSA have solid enough structures to ensure they do not miss any talented players. Anton Ferreira, CSA's manager of coaching, said all the provincial affiliates have area coordinators and scouts, and the rural cricket week also helps spot future stars. "Once we see a talented player, we absorb them into the mainstream, where we can assess and monitor them," Ferreira said. "A lot of their early learning has to do with how they are exposed to the game. Sometimes you'll find it is a passionate teacher or a family member who introduces them to it. Then they get more specialised coaching later on." The same does not seem to apply to batsmen, as most in South Africa's current lot are from traditional cricketing schools. Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie were pupils at King Edward VII School, where Jimmy Cook was their coach; Jacques Rudolph and AB de Villiers are products of Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool, the most prominent Afrikaans cricketing school; and Mark Boucher attended Selborne College. Steyn thinks it's because, unlike bowlers, batsmen can be coached. "Batsmen can be taught, but the most important thing about fast bowling is natural talent. We're not going to find our next fast bowler from the best school, but we'll have to find who is the most natural." Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent Feeds: Firdose Moonda © ESPN EMEA Ltd. I wonder how much talent is being wasted in Bihar, UP, MP, Jharkhand alone, there is no state association for Bihar lol, I am sure each state can give us atleast 2 express bowlers alone, most talent in India gets wasted , due to poor talent scouting,infrastructure also economic conditions, selections and injuries.BCCI for all its money and power is a poor organisation in terms of talent scouting, poor network and chain of communication, building the game, getting players from weaker states who have talent.

[BeautifulGame]

SA is the last country to follow on selection procedures considering their inability to play under pressure and yet they havent been able to address them.And also their often controversial racial quatas in selection. They hardly produced really great batsmen or spinners in their system.They produce good fast bowlers simply because their conditions suit seam bowling not because they have any great system in place. Aussies in the one we should be modelling our system if at all

[jairamesh]

Sometimes it's just embarrassing from either talent being wasted or lack of quality coming through in India. The best contradictory analogy I can find is how Brazil is a factory machine for footballers, they are like an export industry for Brazil. The key reason is the availability of excellent domestic infrastructure that caters and supports large threshold of population. Even though by numbers they can produce plenty of footballers, but the footballers still need be polished which is done by hundreds professional clubs and academies. Whilst the Indian domestic infrastructure is centered around the 20 odd Ranji teams which is inadequate to capture all potential cricket players around the country. But even more telling is the poor facilities at some of these Ranji teams. They should be centre of excellences. It is just amazing with all the money BCCI takes in, and yet some of the training/coaching/youth support at many of these Ranji is just laughable. Infact with BCCI's financial power each state should have world class stadiums, training, and academies. It's rather sad that we only one pace academy and one national cricket academy. Each state should have their own centre of excellence on par with the best in the world. It's a cliches, but one suspects much of the BCCI revenues' end up in the officials pockets. Without any meaningful investment in domestic structure, India will continue to produce more turds (than polished gems) not suitable for international cricket.

[MCcricket]

SA is the last country to follow on selection procedures considering their inability to play under pressure and yet they havent been able to address them.And also their often controversial racial quatas in selection. They hardly produced really great batsmen or spinners in their system.They produce good fast bowlers simply because their conditions suit seam bowling not because they have any great system in place. Aussies in the one we should be modelling our system if at all

Quota system is a political thing , it is the government, it is the worst thing SA has lost a lot of talent and Poms have a lot to gain, we are talking about grass route talent scouting, SA is not a spinners paradise but they did their part in pushing a ex Paki in their team, so SA administartion as far as talent scouting and grooming talent is good.

[BeautifulGame]

Quota system is a political thing ' date=' it is the government, it is the worst thing SA has lost a lot of talent and Poms have a lot to gain, we are talking about grass route talent scouting, SA is not a spinners paradise but they did their part in pushing a ex Paki in their team, so SA administartion as far as talent scouting and grooming talent is good.[/quote'] And how do u know quota system is not implemented in grass route level? If pushing players who treat cricket as job like tahir is what the best achievement of SA administration lets hope our selectors are doing a lot better than that.

[rkt.india]

Who's in charge of India's resources? Amidst the timeless and compelling beauty of Roger Federer at Wimbledon, and the clinical precision of Spain at the Euro, Indian cricket's short holiday was barely missed. Now another season, and another tour of Sri Lanka, looms, an Indian team has been announced, and familiar issues have been brushed under the carpet. Little changes. Meanwhile there has been a flood of Tendulkar interviews - more, I suspect, because there was the offer of a trip to Germany for the interviewers rather than any major issues that needed airing. And the selectors have bowed deferentially to a player's choice, seemingly unconcerned about the precedent they set. If there is a long-term plan to ease Tendulkar into a smaller work schedule, it remains a secret. Indeed, India's selectors have been extraordinarily shy of discussing careers with senior players. No one talked to Rahul Dravid about his plans 12 months ago, and I will be very surprised if anyone has sat down with VVS Laxman or Zaheer Khan or, dare anyone say, Tendulkar, to discuss the length of their services to Indian cricket. India remains committed to a reactive mode of management: not foreseeing situations but handling them as they come. After a brief and, to be honest, failed flirtation with the allrounder, India have gone back to what they like best - playing with seven batsmen and hoping two or three of those get through bowling ten overs. It is not a new situation. In the phase from 2002 to 2004, when India played some excellent 50-over cricket, Dravid kept wicket, and a combination of Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh (or even Dinesh Mongia) bowled ten hesitant overs. And at the 2011 World Cup, Yuvraj covered that weakness with a blanket. In between, and thereafter, India have tried all three contenders for that slot: the Pathan brothers and Ravindra Jadeja. A solution has been elusive. Through injury, and poor form, Irfan Pathan has been largely lost to Indian cricket for a few years now. His brother isn't hammering the selectors' door down either. And now Jadeja has been found wanting. Outside of these, not a single player with those skill sets has announced himself in the last few years, and so if India want their balance to be right it would seem that one of the seven batsmen must step up to play the allrounder's role, or that one of these three players needs to be worked upon to raise his game. In effect that is what management is about; not just handling the best but getting those who have to play bit roles to be better than they seem capable of being. Most organisations have a system that ensures good players are not lost forever. The Pathans and Jadeja may never become Dravids or Zaheers but they are good enough to play a role; a quiet, unfashionable role maybe, but one that completes the ensemble. India has invested significantly in each of the three; who is responsible for ensuring that the investment, like many in recent times in the money markets, is not lost? That, I would like to believe, is the job of the National Cricket Academy, where an expert, resident or otherwise, works with players to sort out issues that might have crept in. A few years ago when Alastair Cook's potentially magnificent career seemed to have stalled, England got a grizzly, hardened man in Graham Gooch to set him right. When Ganguly thought he had a problem he spent a week with Greg Chappell in Australia and came back a better player. Cook and Ganguly are exceptional players but even the Pathans and Jadejas don't need their game dismantled, not anymore. They need someone to tweak them, either the technique, the approach, or indeed the mind. Why, I'm sure a Suresh Raina would benefit from a week or ten days spent with Dravid, a Harbhajan with an Anil Kumble. Indian cricket needs to have a system to rehabilitate as much as it does one to discover fresh talent. I would like to believe the chief selector would be concerned enough to find a way out, or more likely, the national coach. Someone has to be in charge of player performance, player upkeep and, where needed, rehabilitation. And that person has to be accountable. Performance is measured as much in actual match results achieved as in whether or not players have grown under a particular regime. In recent years India have lost Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Sreesanth and Harbhajan. The three allrounders I mentioned haven't become the players they could have become. Suresh Raina's and Pragyan Ojha's growth has tapered. That is far too many to allow. India now have no bowlers of any quality to summon, and we saw that coming for a while. So, who's responsibility is it? And so in the foreseeable future, India will have to play with seven batsmen (or play R Ashwin at No. 7) and hope that the four bowlers have a good day every day because there is no back-up anymore - those guys are busy being the fifth bowler. India will continue to get by in conditions where Raina and Sehwag and Rohit Sharma can slip a few overs in here and there, but to be consistent, India must play five bowlers and that means one of those must bat. But with two new balls in limited-overs cricket that fifth bowler should ideally be a third seamer. There is an issue with senior batsmen in Test cricket and with allrounders in limited-overs cricket that needs urgent attention. That carpet, the one things keep getting pushed under, has had bulges in it for too long. http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/572052.html

[Crookbond]

Meanwhile there has been a flood of Tendulkar interviews - more, I suspect, because there was the offer of a trip to Germany for the interviewers rather than any major issues that needed airing. And the selectors have bowed deferentially to a player's choice, seemingly unconcerned about the precedent they set. If there is a long-term plan to ease Tendulkar into a smaller work schedule, it remains a secret.

I would like to believe the chief selector would be concerned enough to find a way out, or more likely, the national coach. Someone has to be in charge of player performance, player upkeep and, where needed, rehabilitation. And that person has to be accountable.

Most important points.

[goggi]

I would like to believe the chief selector would be concerned enough to find a way out, or more likely, the national coach. Someone has to be in charge of player performance, player upkeep and, where needed, rehabilitation. And that person has to be accountable.

Fantasy. The priority of these so called "selectors" and BCCI are the two months of March and April. Everything else is like boring chore to get through to these two months of fun fair. I seriously expect no change in selection policy, future planning and handling of tours.