Why doesn't Team India fast track young cricketers anymore?

[SecondSlip]

I seriously can't even remember the last time a 19-20 year old player has debuted for India. Why don't we fast track exciting youth anymore like we did in the past? 

If anyone remembers, Virat Kohli was immediately fast tracked into the ODI team the same year that he led India U19 to the world cup win, both happened in 2008. 

March 2008 - Kohli wins India U19 the World Cup 
August 2008 - Kohli makes his ODI debut against Sri Lanka 

Yesterday, we just saw a 20 year old Aussie boy score his maiden test century in only his 3rd match against the padosis. Massive congrats to him and hopefully he scores a double if possible.

In the past month, England selected Baby Boycott (Haseeb Hameed) for an overseas series in India and he impressed us all. Unfortunately he got injured but the talent and skill set was there to see for everyone, even our test captain Virat said that he will have a very successful career for England.

If we want to go back even further, everyone just needs to look at Quinton De Kock. South Africa brought QDK into the team immediately after U19 WC 2012 finished and when the South African home series started in the same year. The results are there for everyone to see, he is easily the hottest young cricket prospect in the world. 

So back to my main question, why hasn't India fast tracked any of its youth like other teams have done?

Last year in 2015, there was a very talented boy from Mumbai named Shreyas Iyer who had won IPL's emerging player of the year award and had scored over 1300 runs in the ranji season the same year, keeping in mind that he was 20 years old at this time. Yet he was ignored while failures like Shikhar Dhawan kept getting a free ticket to the test team again and again. Even in ODI cricket, he would have been a much better third opening option than Ajinkya Rahane. He could have replaced either of them in the T20 team as well, but alas, it never happened. 

Something similar is happening this year again. This time its a young gun from Uttarakhand named Rishabh Pant who has opened the eyes of Indian fans. 2016 was an amazing year for Rishabh Pant, from averaging 41 at a strike rate of 100+ in the U19 world cup, to smashing Mustafizur Rahman for sixes, to winning a MOTM award against Gujarat Lions in Rajkot and then finally ending the year by scoring almost 1000 runs this ranji season at a strike rate of over a 100. Whats the harm in fast tracking him? It's not like his competitor in test cricket (Saha) is setting the test arena on fire. He has also had a much better ranji season than Parthiv Patel who was controversially recalled into the team. 

In ODIs, there is no harm in having him as a back up wicket keeper in the team. He can even play as a pure batsman at #6 ahead of the likes of Jadhav and Raina who are short term options at best. In T20s, I'd have him in the team like right now, he will do a much much better job than both Dhawan and Rahane in this format. 

It's great to see youth cricketers from other countries succeeding for their respective teams. But at the same time, it is upsetting for us Indian fans because we also have very talented youth in our ranks that don't get chances. The last player we fast tracked was Virat Kohli, look at him now. Just imagine had we not fast tracked him early, he would have wasted a lot of his time toiling in domestic cricket and we would never had seen his true potential as we see now. Other match winning youth also deserve chances like this!

[putrevus]

Spot on very good point you need to infuse youth early as once they get into this first class grind they lose all their edge.

Edited January 3, 2017 by putrevus

[maniac]

Pant has to be tried in T20's and ODI's but looks like a certain somebody is insecure

[sandeep]

So how's Shreyas Iyer doing in Ranji this year? Or last year's IPL?   How did Sanju Samson do after his breakout year?  Is he wasting his time hitting centuries for Kerala in FC?  

 

Not every teenager is a Tendy or a Kohli.  And searching for the next young thing often leads to overlooking quality prospects who may not fit the teenage prodigy mould.  

 

Selectors also brought in Jayant Yadav at the right time, they threw in Hardik Pandya into the T20 mix at the right time and have rightly brought him into the Text squad without any FC track record.  Young Rishabh's time will definitely come, especially as he's coming of age at the right time - when Team India has spots opening up for a good hitter as well as the next solution at 'keeper.  Shami and Bhuvi have been also given opportunities early in their career.  

 

 

[maniac]

3 minutes ago, sandeep said:

So how's Shreyas Iyer doing in Ranji this year? Or last year's IPL?   How did Sanju Samson do after his breakout year?  Is he wasting his time hitting centuries for Kerala in FC?  

 

Not every teenager is a Tendy or a Kohli.  And searching for the next young thing often leads to overlooking quality prospects who may not fit the teenage prodigy mould.  

 

Selectors also brought in Jayant Yadav at the right time, they threw in Hardik Pandya into the T20 mix at the right time and have rightly brought him into the Text squad without any FC track record.  Young Rishabh's time will definitely come, especially as he's coming of age at the right time - when Team India has spots opening up for a good hitter as well as the next solution at 'keeper.  Shami and Bhuvi have been also given opportunities early in their career.  

 

 

In LOI's there is a slot open for a power-hitter+wicket-keeper batsman and there is a youngster readily available.

[sandeep]

7 minutes ago, maniac said:

In LOI's there is a slot open for a power-hitter+wicket-keeper batsman and there is a youngster readily available.

As I said, it would be very surprising if Pant/Kishan don't get a shot in LOI cricket in India colors this year.  

[goose]

It's a fine balance. You have to protect the culture of a side too and look at the wider picture i.e. being fair on the existing dressing room. 

 

 

[Sajid_Rana]

Because they are not good enough for international cricket.

[MCcricket]

Few things now we see more talent coming thru, batters n pacers, but spinners not so much, also with more Ranji teams ,smaller centers contributing more in terms of India players, selectors are vary of getting a rookie in, after a good U 19 or couple good Ranji season they r selected for India A N then thru the chain to Indian team, only worry with this is guys like K Yadav n deserving pro using players have to wait will Mishra flops n again flops, also a fast bowler especially has to be vetted n introduced at a younger age to get a taste of international cricket as pacers get ground down in domestic tracks n loose pace n inspiration mostly.

Some cricketers are ready ahead of others n that special player requires the early Introduction, guys like Sarfaraz, Pant n so forth.

An ageing team is setting up your team for failure any good team should have one or two 20 or 21 year old.

[tweaker]

All the teams are giving oppurtunities to youngsters ,ie  Srilanka gave a game to Kumara & he took 6 wickets & our selectors are trying back Nehra again for the England odi series.

[express bowling]

• A part of it is because we have a core team of players who are still young , withing 30,  and have many years left....like Kohli, Rahul, Rahane, Pujara, Rohit, Ashwin, Jadeja, Shami, Umesh, Bhuvi, Ishant
• We have introduced Rahul, Bumrah, Pandya and Sran  in their early 20s when such slots opened up.
• Giving chance to has-beens like Gambhir was a step in the wrong direction. I hope Nehra is not brought back now and some young quick is tried instead.
• There have to be young candidates who look good enough for the next level.  Rahul, Bumrah, Pandya and Sran were such candidates and there were not many others in the last 3 years.  No point in picking a 20 year old if you have a much better 25 year old waiting in the wings, like we saw with Nair.  
• Unless you have a prodigy or a genius, it is better to give in atleast 2 years of FC experience as introducing him too early may hamper his development as a player. Leaving him too long in FC,  if he is ready for the next level, may destroy a talent....there is a fine line here.
• Now, we see Pant, Kuldeep and Kishan emerging this year and they should get a look-in in LOIs ( Kuldeep in tests also ).  Nathu Singh should get a chance in LOIs too. Leaving him in domestic cricket may result in us losing him.  Why is Avesh Khan not even playing domestic cricket  ?.....he looked like a mature bowler with pace and bounce.

Edited January 4, 2017 by express bowling

[Ankit_sharma03]

• Fast tracking a cricketer works best with fast bowlers that to mostly in subcontinent. Batsman and spinners take time to mature , whereas fast bowlers are best to be introduced when they are young and raw rather then wasting them on our dead pitches. 
• Sachin n Kohli are once in lifetime cricketers and people would have seen it early. You dont find kohli and sachin everyday.
• Hammed has a very solid technique . About samson n iyer most of us can easily tell how much they need to work on their games to be successful on international level. Also it depends on a lot of reason. HAmeed and de kock came after many other failed. There is a huge line before iyer and samson hasnt done anything gr8 to be even considered ahead of parthiv. 
• Hardik pandya was fast tracked coz we didnt have any all rounders. Sran was also fast tracked
• Ofcourse the selection system isnt perfect and thats why there isnt consistency in our results. 

[rkt.india]

10 hours ago, Viper said:

Nair should be given a go 

 

He can be a quality opener

 

Rohit debut was back in 2007 he was 19 at that time.. The thing is all present team were young when they debuted they were built over years.

 

Need to replace KL rahul kid gets injured every 2 matches. Dhawan gets more chances because of him being lefty maybe his debut was at 23 or 24 i think. I think they don't want to rush pant yet that's what Dravid said anyway.. I think if he doesn't go sanju samson way he might be the replacement after MS retirement.

 

With

Rohit

Dhawan

Kohli

Dhoni

Pandey/rahane

The only way anyone can walk in present team is as finisher or allrounder

Dhawan debuted in 2010 due to injures to others but only played one game and was dropped. His proper ODI debut was 3 years later in 2013 at 27 years of age.  He never really set IPL or first class cricket on fire, probably was having a good season of Ranji trophy and was drafted in.

[rkt.india]

9 hours ago, sandeep said:

So how's Shreyas Iyer doing in Ranji this year? Or last year's IPL?   How did Sanju Samson do after his breakout year?  Is he wasting his time hitting centuries for Kerala in FC?  

 

Not every teenager is a Tendy or a Kohli.  And searching for the next young thing often leads to overlooking quality prospects who may not fit the teenage prodigy mould.  

 

Selectors also brought in Jayant Yadav at the right time, they threw in Hardik Pandya into the T20 mix at the right time and have rightly brought him into the Text squad without any FC track record.  Young Rishabh's time will definitely come, especially as he's coming of age at the right time - when Team India has spots opening up for a good hitter as well as the next solution at 'keeper.  Shami and Bhuvi have been also given opportunities early in their career.  

 

 

Shreyas Iyer had 2 good season, averaged 50 in his first season, his 2nd season was sublime being the highest run getter. This season he has been average, still has 2 big hundreds to his name with over 600 runs in the season. Still averages 52 in FC cricket after 35 FC matches with 8 hundreds which are pretty good returns after 3 years of FC cricket and who knows what could he have done if picked early after his bumper FC season last year. Now, hope you don't expect him to scorer 1000 runs every season. No one does that.

[Unleashed]

Maybe it's because of the fact that they're both(Hameed and Renshaw) exceptional talents? You forgot to mention the fact that England also brought on a 39yr old spinner back for the Subcontinent test whereas Aussies pick Maddison over other far more deserving batsmen due to his age and "x-factor". Besides I'm pretty sure Pandya would've been in the team for atleast a team if he didn't got injured.

 

What's the obsession with age anyways? The great Australian team that dominated only really fast-tracked Micheal Clarke in their prime and picked players on the basis of solid, consistent domestic performances which meant that the players coming in looked a part of the team, the greatest example of that is ofcourse Mike Hussey.

 

Tbh, I like our system more. Let a youngster go through India A trips and learn from the very best i.e Dravid and then they come in the International team looking ready. No use in doing the Pakistan way i.e throwing our young talent in test squad and then dropping them after two bad performances.

 

[G_B_]

hmm to be fair India have a young team themselves?

[rkt.india]

21 minutes ago, Unleashed said:

Maybe it's because of the fact that they're both(Hameed and Renshaw) exceptional talents? You forgot to mention the fact that England also brought on a 39yr old spinner back for the Subcontinent test whereas Aussies pick Maddison over other far more deserving batsmen due to his age and "x-factor". Besides I'm pretty sure Pandya would've been in the team for atleast a team if he didn't got injured.

 

What's the obsession with age anyways? The great Australian team that dominated only really fast-tracked Micheal Clarke in their prime and picked players on the basis of solid, consistent domestic performances which meant that the players coming in looked a part of the team, the greatest example of that is ofcourse Mike Hussey.

 

Tbh, I like our system more. Let a youngster go through India A trips and learn from the very best i.e Dravid and then they come in the International team looking ready. No use in doing the Pakistan way i.e throwing our young talent in test squad and then dropping them after two bad performances.

 

Hameed and Renshaw are not exceptional talent. David Warner was when he was picked for test team without playing much FC cricket. Regarding Austalian team, Shane Warne debuted at 22, Steve Waugh at 20, Mark Waugh at 23, Justin Langer at 23, Matthew Hayden at 22, McGrath at 23, Brett Lee 23, Clarke 23. Recently Starc at 21, Josh Hazelwood at 21, Pattinson at 21, Pattrick Cummins at 18, Warner 23, Phil Hughes 20.

[speedster]

3 hours ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

• Fast tracking a cricketer works best with fast bowlers that to mostly in subcontinent. Batsman and spinners take time to mature , whereas fast bowlers are best to be introduced when they are young and raw rather then wasting them on our dead pitches. 
• Sachin n Kohli are once in lifetime cricketers and people would have seen it early. You dont find kohli and sachin everyday.
• Hammed has a very solid technique . About samson n iyer most of us can easily tell how much they need to work on their games to be successful on international level. Also it depends on a lot of reason. HAmeed and de kock came after many other failed. There is a huge line before iyer and samson hasnt done anything gr8 to be even considered ahead of parthiv. 
• Hardik pandya was fast tracked coz we didnt have any all rounders. Sran was also fast tracked
• Ofcourse the selection system isnt perfect and thats why there isnt consistency in our results. 

Agree with you completely but in the context of fast bowlers what is concerning is the recent tendency to go back to tried and tested bowlers , the problem seems more pervasive in the case of the A team, we see the likes of Dhawal Kulakarni, Unadkat feature regularly , I think the selectors would have a good idea about what they offer, so either they are good enough for the national team or they aren't, there are bowlers like Aniket (not exactly young), Rajpoot and so on who could develop and who are unknowns as far as suitability for national team is concerned, this hesitation to try out these bowlers would affect their progress. 

[Turbanator]

11 hours ago, Viper said:

Nair should be given a go 

 

He can be a quality opener

 

Rohit debut was back in 2007 he was 19 at that time.. The thing is all present team were young when they debuted they were built over years.

 

Need to replace KL rahul kid gets injured every 2 matches. Dhawan gets more chances because of him being lefty maybe his debut was at 23 or 24 i think. I think they don't want to rush pant yet that's what Dravid said anyway.. I think if he doesn't go sanju samson way he might be the replacement after MS retirement.

 

With

Rohit

Dhawan

Kohli

Dhoni

Pandey/rahane

The only way anyone can walk in present team is as finisher or allrounder

Replace Rahul? Are you even serious?

[Lannister]

The same thing has happened with Mayank Agarwal too. When he was in a peak form, Dhawan was retained yet again. Now we are forcing Pandya to bat at 5 which is not his usual position and because of it he lost his form trying to fill in the role of a power hitter. If only some old fart has taken his retirement.