Friday, January 29, 2010

Why Not R P Singh & Balaji?

It was all praise for new comers Abhimanyu Mithun and Subramanium Badrinath when their names were announced for the test series against South Africa that would be starting the coming month in India. However, as far as test cricket is concerned, the above mentioned names can never guarantee any sort of help in the bowling line up. For, test cricket is the area where a player's real skills are tested. Unlike in limited overs cricket, where the batsmen can get rid of a particular after the bowler has finished his quota of 10 overs, in test cricket, the bowler keeps on haunting the batsman every now and then.

This is one of the many examples of the nerve testing nature of test cricket. May be that is the reason why the format is referred to as "test cricket". Coming to the inclusion of the aforementioned bowlers, a strong justification is the need of the hour one can suppose. If at all the selection panel wanted to give chance to young blood, the very same players could have been given a chance against a weaker opposition in Bangladesh rather than a South African team that is fresh from its moral victory against England. And who is Wriddhiman Saha replacing?

Badrinath and Mithun can be considered a replacement for Yuvraj Singh and Sreesanth respectively if the selection committee is to be believed. And in case the BCCI wants to groom youngsters, in what way does the same classify players as young and old. Players' profile reveals that Badrinath is aged 29 and is yet to make a test debut. On the other hand, Saha is aged 25 and can be given a slight consideration. One point that is to be made clear is that Sreesanth has so far been a substitute for others rather than someone else coming in place of him. Most of the time, Sreesanth has been warming benches or rehabilitating himself at NCA all owing to injury.

In case the BCCI wants to include some young players, why wait for an injury to one or many of its players? Why not rest some senior pro and include the same? There have been many players who are waiting for their chance to be included in the test squad since years. Few names that include in the list are Robin uttappa, Rohith Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina who have been playing ODIs from past 5 years. But, their names are never bound to hit the selection panel's list when it comes to picking up batsmen. And one last question is "will Mithun, Saha and Badrinath be included in the playing XI?".

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