Did our best, left the team with good bench strength for T20 World Cup: MSK Prasad

[maniac]

1 hour ago, sandeep said:

 

And of course hindsight is 20-20, but a look back to the years leading up the ODI WC, and one wonders exactly why it was that Rayudu and his 75 SR got chance after chance after chance as the spare middle order batsman, while Shreyas Iyer was given a couple of games against SA and then chucked aside.  Would it have made a difference if Shreyas was from Andhra instead of Ambati?  I don't know.  Maybe it was Virat and his documented historical preference for "experienced" players.  Maybe it was a selfish $-driven instinct to throw up higher barriers for younger batsmen who could quickly become advertising favorites in a market pre-disposed to chase younger and and younger stars.  We'll never know.

Shreyas being dropped after SA tour was inexcusable. He should have become a mainstay in the side by now. However you need to look at it from a glass half full-half empty angle. He has been knocking the doors of selection for a couple of years prior to that but he got his shot in MSK's tenure. Also once the questions were cleared on the  Rayudu's, DK's, Rainas and Yuvraj of the world, Shreyas was immediately brought back in. So only time he was dumped was when he became a part of the senior team. Make whatever you can of that.

 

Now coming to Rayudu, his name started popping up in contention after he had a stellar IPL in 2018 playing for CSK. If you remember he was selected for England but flunked the Yoyo test. He was replaced by Raina who plays for CSK who failed in England. Then he walked straight back in.  let us say he was backed by MSK on the regional angle, he was played consistently in the side and he had a middling performance. There was no back up groomed in the team but then he ended up getting dropped from the WC when a couple of weeks before the Aus series and after the Nzl series everyone expected him tp be a guaranteed starter.

 

While obviously MSK should get blamed for these inconsistent selections, doesn't it also feel like he is the guy who takes the heat for some boneheaded team combos?

 

Shastri takes the heat off of Kohli and MSK and whoever is going to be the next guy in charge takes the heat off of Shastri and co. This is not even a conspiracy or an assumption, it is as clear as daylight. 

 

[sandeep]

10 minutes ago, maniac said:

Shreyas being dropped after SA tour was inexcusable. He should have become a mainstay in the side by now. However you need to look at it from a glass half full-half empty angle. He has been knocking the doors of selection for a couple of years prior to that but he got his shot in MSK's tenure. Also once the questions were cleared on the  Rayudu's, DK's, Rainas and Yuvraj of the world, Shreyas was immediately brought back in. So only time he was dumped was when he became a part of the senior team. Make whatever you can of that.

 

Now coming to Rayudu, his name started popping up in contention after he had a stellar IPL in 2018 playing for CSK. If you remember he was selected for England but flunked the Yoyo test. He was replaced by Raina who plays for CSK who failed in England. Then he walked straight back in.  let us say he was backed by MSK on the regional angle, he was played consistently in the side and he had a middling performance. There was no back up groomed in the team but then he ended up getting dropped from the WC when a couple of weeks before the Aus series and after the Nzl series everyone expected him tp be a guaranteed starter.

 

While obviously MSK should get blamed for these inconsistent selections, doesn't it also feel like he is the guy who takes the heat for some boneheaded team combos?

 

Shastri takes the heat off of Kohli and MSK and whoever is going to be the next guy in charge takes the heat off of Shastri and co. This is not even a conspiracy or an assumption, it is as clear as daylight. 

 

big ol' word soup that essentially agrees with what I posted above.  

 

But no cheap shots this time.  Showing improvement!