Deciphering the Indian Selectors’ mindset
Amidst the glitz and glamour of the IPL and the chaos that later followed, there were a few other cricketing news items that would have otherwise made it to the headlines of the sports sections in the newspapers. The most noteworthy of them was the Indian team’s selection for the Champions Trophy. Not only was news important because of the exclusion of a few marquee players and a highly talented young one, but also because it lends us an insight into how the Indian selectors think.
Eye on the future
One of the things that makes a selector’s job tough is the critical balance that he needs to find between short-term success and building a team for the long-term. And for that to happen, a selection committee must be given a 3-4 year term in the office so that they can have the confidence of not being judged by their immediate success and failures. Till 2008, the selectors had a 1-2 year tenure which held them back from taking bold decisions. However, things changed with the Kris Srikkanth-led panel, and they were able to groom players which they thought would form the backbone of future success. The emergence of the likes of Kohli and Ashwin is here to be seen.
This willingness of the selection panel to take a risk continues with the current committee led by Sandeep Patil. In the Test series against England, they gave Gambhir and Sehwag a chance to get back to form. A negative response from the openers led to the axing of Gambhir from the squad against Australia. Mid-way into that series, Sehwag was dropped and Shikhar Dhawan was brought into the squad. The selectors had a choice between him and an experienced Jaffer, but they went with the youngster as they found a long-term prospect in him. Murali Vijay’s selection ahead of Gambhir even though he was not in the best of forms in domestic cricket meant that if the selectors wanted to select one among two under-performing players, it would be the one who has a brighter prospect in the long-term.
Performance is the key
The exclusion of Yuvraj Singh seems a little hard on him. He doesn’t look like the same charismatic persona on the field who was the Man of the Series in the 2011 World Cup. But a string of failures in the ODIs against England and Pakistan, where he scored a meagre 160 runs in 8 innings spread over these two series, was enough to convince the selectors that his form post his cancer recovery doesn’t warrant a selection in the Indian team.
They’ve sent out a clear message: even if you are a senior member, your experience will only take you so far. A string of failures will make the selectors look for replacements as performance takes centre-stage.
It’s tough to drop seasoned cricketers – especially the ones who are proven match-winners. By excluding senior pros including Sehwag, Harbhajan and Zaheer for the Champions Trophy, the selectors have, for all practical purposes, pulled down the curtains on their careers. That these cricketers were not even in the list of 30 probables announced on 6th April meant that even a strong IPL performance wouldn’t help them win a ticket to England.