Young & raring, nowhere to go: India's non-playing players

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More... Young & raring, nowhere to go: India's non-playing players Indianexpress, G.S. Vivek, 23 June 2010 When India opted to pack their playing XI with regulars for the inconsequential game today against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, team fringe players Saurabh Tiwary and Ravichandran Ashwin joined the long list of players who have returned home without any action on field. The decision to keep out the two talented youngsters highlighted the disconnect between the team management and the national selection committee. The left-handed Tiwary, picked by selectors as the replacement for Yuvraj Singh in the middle order, had been asked to cut short the India A tour in England to be part of the Asia Cup squad. But being on drinks duty during in Sri Lanka tour means he even missed out on the England experience. Equally baffling is the case of Ashwin. The off-spinner was first picked for the two T20 games against Sri Lanka at home last year and after that has been part of four ODI squads. But the man, who is seen as the replacement for Harbhajan Singh, has played just one ODI and two T20s games � all of them during the recent Zimbabwe series when the seniors were rested. Despite impressive international outings � he scored 38 from 32 balls and took 2/50 in his ODI debut at Harare � Ashwin hasn't got skipper Dhoni's confidence. With Harbhajan rested, the offie all-rounder would have been a perfect replacement but the team management opted to go for the tried-and-tested Pragyan Ojha. Kiran More, former chairman of selectors, sees no logic in resting budding youngsters in dead-rubber games. "Saurabh Tiwary and Ravichandran Ashwin should have played against Sri Lanka. This is not the first time players are picked for a tour but then not even given a chance in inconsequential games. It clearly points to a difference in the thinking of the selectors and team management," More told the Indian Express. More believes off-spinner Ashwin is good enough to make the cut for India's World Cup team. "He has the skill and the temperament to play at the highest level. He has good control and he can also bat. I am not saying he is as good as Harbhajan as a spinner but unless Ashwin is given a break regularly how will one know where he stands. But make no mistake, among those who are knocking on the doors of the Indian team, Ashwin is best-placed to make the World Cup squad." A national selector, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: "In away games, the tour national committee consisting of captain and coach decide the eleven. Such things have happened so often in Indian cricket but we have decided that we won't discard a player without giving a chance. Tiwary and Ashwin will get their chance in future." Just last month, a similar selection muddle had come to fore. During the Zimbabwe tour when pacer R Vinay Kumar got injured, the selectors pulled Abhimanyu Mithun from the India A tour party to England. Surprisingly, Mithun didn't get a game in Zimbabwe as Vinay Kumar miraculously recovered to play the subsequent T20 games. Mithun, meanwhile, missed the England tour too since another pacer had already taken his place. Over the years, several fringe players have been reduced to tourists because of the skipper's reluctance to play them. Pankaj Singh (Australia, 2007-08), Manoj Tiwary (Australia, 2008 tri-series), Ranadeb Bose (England, 2007), Rajesh Pawar (Bangladesh, 2007) have returned home with no or minimum action on field. At times, there have been instance when selectors have thrown their weight in the selection meeting to push a player but the captain has had the final laugh by keeping him on bench during a tour. The old school theory of a youngster learning from travelling with the national team doesn't quite hold water in times of the Indian Premier League. Tiwary had been sharing the Mumbai Indian dressing with Sachin Tendulkar for the last three years while Ashwin has seen Dhoni from close quarters while wearing the Chennai Super Kings jersey.

[girishk14]

Ashwin in place of jadeja wud hav won us the match today..............He would hav definitely held the lower odder together and given strike to rohit. he would have got either mahela or sanga early........n once one of those two are gone, .......paapugedara n candybar wud hav collapsed on their own.......

[Texy]

ya n mofos like Jadeja still in the team w/o any talent whatsoever ......some ppl are born lucky

[Sachinism]

Same old story, if had played him in the other guy we would have won bla bla bla

[Roshanrocks]

:headshake: i was hoping to watch Tiwary

[Chandan]

Same old story, if had played him in the other guy we would have won bla bla bla

No it isn't the same story. Why were these guys chosen in the XV if the skipper and coach didn't have confidence in their ability to give them a chance even in an inconsequential match? Are they just there to make up the numbers or fulfill the zonal quotas? If they were not able enough to play in the senior side, why were they not sent with the A team to get more exposure? What on earth are these guys gaining just by warming the bench? We saw how Mithun lost out on gaining valuable exposure in England just by warming the bench in Zimbabwe. Why is there no continuity in the selection? Why is there no process to identify 15-20 youngsters and then groom them through the A tour and let them come to the senior team by earning a spot? Why is there so much randomness, so much muddled thinking in the selection?

[jf1gp_1]

No it isn't the same story. Why were these guys chosen in the XV if the skipper and coach didn't have confidence in their ability to give them a chance even in an inconsequential match?

well said, what was even more disappointing kartik stepped out of plane and was opening innings; yet tiwary was still carrying drinks for the likes of kohli, sharma and raina when he could have been playing for anyone of them; i still cant belive they didnt play ashwin inplace of jadeja; perfect test for ashwin the bowler against SL batsman

[Sachinism]

No it isn't the same story. Why were these guys chosen in the XV if the skipper and coach didn't have confidence in their ability to give them a chance even in an inconsequential match? Are they just there to make up the numbers or fulfill the zonal quotas? If they were not able enough to play in the senior side, why were they not sent with the A team to get more exposure? What on earth are these guys gaining just by warming the bench? We saw how Mithun lost out on gaining valuable exposure in England just by warming the bench in Zimbabwe. Why is there no continuity in the selection? Why is there no process to identify 15-20 youngsters and then groom them through the A tour and let them come to the senior team by earning a spot? Why is there so much randomness, so much muddled thinking in the selection?

I agree with that part. But I'm talking about fans complaining thinking if one person didn't play and someone else played in their position it would have affected the result of the match. They forget we got pounded vs SL and one player would have had very little effect on the result.

[Sooda]

The result dosent matter in this case, which is why someone like Tiwary or Ashwin could have played. And Dhoni and Khan sat it out. They have a few examples of players going on tour and not playing, I am not sure though how often they 'could' have played. I.e dead rubbers etc. Another instance of this is when we toured WI for a very random ODI series last year. Vijay and Badri were both in the squad but did not get a game. Despite it being a totally meaningless tour. Mithun not being in Eng is the biggest joke by far. Its only an A team send him back and Ganaphty being an allrounder can be in squad anyway. It would have been great to see him in the 4 day games, not least from the teams pt of view as a wicket taking threat. Instead guys like Jaskaran were playing.