THE BEST THING about the IPL is that you get to see so many players from across the world in action all in one tournament. You just have to sit in front of your TV and you get to see such amazing talent from all corners of India and abroad. Take, for instance, Yusuf Pathan’s incredible hundred against the Mumbai Indians at the Cricket Club of India the other day. Now, Yusuf Pathan has played many such innings in domestic cricket but as there has been no TV coverage of those matches, we have not been able to see the complete fury of his broad blade.
And the best accolade for Yusuf Pathan has come from Shane Warne. The guru of leg-spin has said that he has seen a lot of great innings in his long career but Pathan’s 37-ball hundred against Mumbai Indians is the best knock he has ever seen.
I guess if someone of the stature of Warne is saying this then we have to take him seriously, for he has seen a lot of great batsmen playing great knocks during his career. Recently, when Sachin became the first batsman to compile a double hundred in one-day internationals, praise poured in from all over. Current and former players (and coaches) from across the world jostled with one another to eulogize Tendulkar’s super knock. But when Yusuf played that blinder to post the fastest hundred in the IPL so far, his effort did not get the kind of media and player recognition that it deserved.
But TV does not lie. It was clear for all viewers that MI skipper Tendulkar was feeling entirely helpless when Pathan went on the rampage and only a bizarre run-out could have got him out because all the bowlers and fielders were running for cover trying to evade the ferocity of Pathan’s shots.
Well, the Indian selectors – especially chief selector Kris Srikanth – too must be feeling equally helpless. How does he stop this endless coverage on Set Max? One eye-catching talent after the other is coming on to the big screen and is showing his potential and class to such a wide array of world viewers. People are seeing young left-hander Saurabh Tiwari play like a true professional, Yogesh Nagar diving and bringing off incredible catches, Abhijit Tare showcasing his talent behind and in front of the stumps, leg-spinner Ladda beating Tendulkar in flight. Everybody is watching these breathtaking performances on TV.
But when it comes to selecting the Indian team, Srikanth has eyes only for players from down South, especially from CSK. When Sourabh Tiwari can bat like this, why is it that Srikanth can only see Murali Vijay and S Badrinath? When Ladda can bowl so well, why is it that Srikanth prefers South’s R Ashwin? When Tare can keep and bat so well, why is it that Srikanth can only see Tamil Nadu’s Dinesh Karthik when it comes to selecting the Indian team?
Srikanth’s biased team selections are being made to look all the more silly by this IPL coverage. The world is watching on their TV sets, young Indian talent take international bowlers apart. But it appears the Indian chief selector just cannot see beyond South Zone, Tamil Nadu and CSK. The riveting performances of the likes of Tewari, Rayudu, Tare, Ladda etc are just taking the breath away. But none of them even figures in the list of 30 probables for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the West Indies.
These are the kind of young players who should be representing India in the T20 World Cup. But instead of these talented players, whom the whole world is watching on TV in the on-going IPL, Messers Srikanth and Co. have named the likes of Sudeep Tyagi, R Ashwin, Murali Vijay, Wridhiman Saha (who had a highly forgettable test debut recently) and Piyush Chawla (now rotund Chawla) in the list of 30 probables for the T20 World Cup.
The Indian selectors are only making a laughing stock of themselves by naming such players in the probables. When the whole world is watching Saurabh Tewary play in this cavalier fashion on TV, why are the selectors naming players like Murali Vijay in the probables? When Tare is doing so well, why are they naming Saha? When Ladda is bowling so well, why are they naming Chawla?
