Lets see if regionalism still exists.

[Cricketics]

Holysmoke, calling for Dhawal Kulkarni's selection is just not on. There is no slot available in our Test Line up. His name can't be inserted keeping in mind, guys like RP, Sreesanth waiting to be recalled back. Rahane is a good choice.. but for whom?? we have to wait..

[Guest Hiten.]

Holysmoke, tune woh kahavat nahin sunni kya ? Woh kare toh raas lila, hum kare toh sala character dhila

[DomainK]

I agree with Marris. There is no need to paint it with regionalism. If selection was to be done purely on statistics, we wouldn't need that panel- a computer could have done that for us.

[Gambit]

I think the most famous egg on face story regarding quota is when Ravi Shastri attributed Dauda Gongoli's selection on the 1996 English tour to quota politics.

[coffee_rules]

Wrong title. Why is selection of Rahane not an indication of regionalism?

[kirtan]

Rahane(secondhighest scorer after Jaffer) should be ahead of Badri for a spot in the test team. Dhawal Kulkarni (joint top ranji wicket taker alongwith R. Jadeja who's a spinner )should also be ahead of Balaji... Badri = Matches = 74 Age = 28 Avg 57 18 100s 22 50s Rahane = Matches 25 Average = 63.75 8 hundreds 12 fifties in 43 innings

Couple of years back, Badri's average at that year is 80. Yes, regionalism is here. Dhoni don't "like" Badri

[cowboysfan]

Couple of years back' date=' Badri's average at that year is 80. Yes, regionalism is here. Dhoni don't "like" Badri[/quote'] dhoni has no say in test team selections-wasnt that clear with the recent controversy?

[Mr. Wicket]

I think the most famous egg on face story regarding quota is when Ravi Shastri attributed Dauda Gongoli's selection on the 1996 English tour to quota politics.

Actually Gambit, it was partly that. Not saying the selection was wrong, but the thinking and logic behind it was insanely fubared with one of the *****iest squads I've seen touring England. The selection on that tour was one of the most abominable and moronic things I've ever seen, and it's a damn miracle things turned out as they did. We had the first half of the season to play in; damp conditions, greentops and seam and swinging conditions to exploit/cope with... so obviously our brilliant moron selectors decided that four spinners was the way to go. Yes. For tests in May and June, we toured with an attack of Kumble, Hirwani, Joshi and Raju. Our pace attack was Srinath and Prasad with Mhambrey as backup** - and Ganguly was selected as a lone east zone pick but NOT as a batsman... shockingly enough he was picked as the fourth seamer on tour/a bowler who could bat a bit. He actually had a decent bowling record the previous season (averaging <30 with ball across the Ranjis/Duleeps), but a fairly mediocre batting record - in the 95/96 season (just before this tour) he averaged just over 30 with the bat. The batting selection was Azhar, Tendulkar, Manjrekar, Rathore, Jadeja and Sidhu with Dravid as reserve - unsurprisingly we got the sh-t kicked out of us when Rathore and Jadeja failed to work as an opening combination (what a shock!), and Manjrekar played like crap with only Tendulkar and Srinath not sucking in the first test. Worth noting we also picked Joshi as literally a specialist bat that game, as he didn't bowl a single ball. With Sidhu having an argument w/ Azzu and leaving the squad and Joshi's selection being totally ridiculous - we played 5 bowlers with 3 seamers/2 spinners in the first test (Srinath/Prasad/Mhambrey/Kumble/Joshi) - we went into the next match replacing Manjrekar with Dravid and Joshi with Ganguly (to beef up the seam bowling options, having 4 seamers/1 spinner - technically 3 seamers given that Mhambrey really counted as a lump of dead weight to be carried). Ganguly ended up coming in at 3 as the requisite sacrifice late on day 2 (Mongia and Manjrekar having filled that role and failed in the first test) to try and shield the middle order batsmen (Sachin, Azhar, Dravid, Jadeja) from the new ball - and ended up scoring a ton. Some incredibly moronic and uninformed selection beforehand (between Ganguly being a backup bowler on the basis that East had no reps in the squad, and that he could bat and bowl, and FOUR GODDAMN SPINNERS PLUS MHAMBREY, something that still pisses me off to this day) somehow turned out reasonably OK. **BTW the other incredibly daft thing is the fact that they picked Mhambrey literally cold - in the season in India just before that, Mhambrey missed most of Bombay's matches via injury. He'd done well in past seasons though, so apparently that - plus a few overs bowled in the quarter final (where he was crap, and barely bowled) was enough to secure a place on tour. He came on tour with almost zero practice and very little guarantee of match fitness... must have really SUCKED to be Srinath and Prasad there with the number of catches they had dropped and the wonderful backup they had in a half-fit Mhambrey.

[suraj]

Actually Gambit, it was partly that. Not saying the selection was wrong, but the thinking and logic behind it was insanely fubared with one of the *****iest squads I've seen touring England. The selection on that tour was one of the most abominable and moronic things I've ever seen, and it's a damn miracle things turned out as they did. We had the first half of the season to play in; damp conditions, greentops and seam and swinging conditions to exploit/cope with... so obviously our brilliant moron selectors decided that four spinners was the way to go. Yes. For tests in May and June, we toured with an attack of Kumble, Hirwani, Joshi and Raju. Our pace attack was Srinath and Prasad with Mhambrey as backup** - and Ganguly was selected as a lone east zone pick but NOT as a batsman... shockingly enough he was picked as the fourth seamer on tour/a bowler who could bat a bit. He actually had a decent bowling record the previous season (averaging <30 with ball across the Ranjis/Duleeps), but a fairly mediocre batting record - in the 95/96 season (just before this tour) he averaged just over 30 with the bat. The batting selection was Azhar, Tendulkar, Manjrekar, Rathore, Jadeja and Sidhu with Dravid as reserve - unsurprisingly we got the sh-t kicked out of us when Rathore and Jadeja failed to work as an opening combination (what a shock!), and Manjrekar played like crap with only Tendulkar and Srinath not sucking in the first test. Worth noting we also picked Joshi as literally a specialist bat that game, as he didn't bowl a single ball. With Sidhu having an argument w/ Azzu and leaving the squad and Joshi's selection being totally ridiculous - we played 5 bowlers with 3 seamers/2 spinners in the first test (Srinath/Prasad/Mhambrey/Kumble/Joshi) - we went into the next match replacing Manjrekar with Dravid and Joshi with Ganguly (to beef up the seam bowling options, having 4 seamers/1 spinner - technically 3 seamers given that Mhambrey really counted as a lump of dead weight to be carried). Ganguly ended up coming in at 3 as the requisite sacrifice late on day 2 (Mongia and Manjrekar having filled that role and failed in the first test) to try and shield the middle order batsmen (Sachin, Azhar, Dravid, Jadeja) from the new ball - and ended up scoring a ton. Some incredibly moronic and uninformed selection beforehand (between Ganguly being a backup bowler on the basis that East had no reps in the squad, and that he could bat and bowl, and FOUR GODDAMN SPINNERS PLUS MHAMBREY, something that still pisses me off to this day) somehow turned out reasonably OK. **BTW the other incredibly daft thing is the fact that they picked Mhambrey literally cold - in the season in India just before that, Mhambrey missed most of Bombay's matches via injury. He'd done well in past seasons though, so apparently that - plus a few overs bowled in the quarter final (where he was crap, and barely bowled) was enough to secure a place on tour. He came on tour with almost zero practice and very little guarantee of match fitness... must have really SUCKED to be Srinath and Prasad there with the number of catches they had dropped and the wonderful backup they had in a half-fit Mhambrey.

Very informative post Salil!!!:hatsoff: I wish we start seeing more of these quality posts rather than fake id crap on the forum

[veer]

wow... .Salil.. how do you remember all details?.. interesting stuff..

[The Outsider]

Top post, Salil! Impressive recollection of events.

[kirtan]

dhoni has no say in test team selections-wasnt that clear with the recent controversy?

Initial reports said that Badri was in NZ squd. Suddenly his name disappears and M Vijay is in. It's a Dhoni and Cheeka Deal. No Doubt. If not Badri, It should be Rahane or Pujara. Badri used to come to bad at No.3. But Dhoni always sends badri as No.7 batsman in IPL. Still badri has a strike rate of 140.

[Gambit]

Actually Gambit, it was partly that. Not saying the selection was wrong, but the thinking and logic behind it was insanely fubared with one of the *****iest squads I've seen touring England. The selection on that tour was one of the most abominable and moronic things I've ever seen, and it's a damn miracle things turned out as they did. We had the first half of the season to play in; damp conditions, greentops and seam and swinging conditions to exploit/cope with... so obviously our brilliant moron selectors decided that four spinners was the way to go. Yes. For tests in May and June, we toured with an attack of Kumble, Hirwani, Joshi and Raju. Our pace attack was Srinath and Prasad with Mhambrey as backup** - and Ganguly was selected as a lone east zone pick but NOT as a batsman... shockingly enough he was picked as the fourth seamer on tour/a bowler who could bat a bit. He actually had a decent bowling record the previous season (averaging Good post. I remember ROFL-ing at Mhambrey's performance on the tour and especially in one of the games v a county side. Didn't know he was coming off an injury.

[riya]

I started hating this ''regionalism'' .If that is the case with our selection procedures India would never going to be number one .If all those north indians can't stand south indians and southies to northies .All i can say is screw all u regionlistic fanatics . Learn to love fellow Indians first .Then support the Indian team .