Dilip Vengsarkar wants improvement in team selection

Dilip Vengsarkar

The former national selector and retired Indian batsman Dilip Vengsarkar has not taken the 4-0 humiliation in New Zealand lightly and has blamed the team management for not giving chances to newer players. Despite not looking closer to a comfortable victory at any point of time in the series, certain Indians players have been given an extended rope for no apparent reasons.

Vengasarkar said: “It is strange that Pujara is being kept out. There appears to be a lack of vision among the selectors. The team management appears stubborn when it comes to trying out new players. Why are the same set of bowlers being played and ground to dust? How long will they back the same under-performing batsmen? What is the role of the coach and bowling coach?”

“It’s a scary situation because there seems to be no bench strength. I don’t see a single bowler or batsman at the U-19 or U-22 level who appears talented enough to be fast-tracked into the team. There are no left-arm spinners or leg-spinners coming up. There are no new pacers, which means we haven’t been looking. The India A side seems to be for those who are always on the sidelines,” he added.

He also took a dig at the Indian players for being content with playing the Indian Premier League. “The ones like Gambhir and Sehwag who have been dropped are not scoring consistently enough at the domestic level. Is enough being done to groom cricketers? Are India hopefuls motivated enough to improve their game or are they content with the T20 spotlight? Has the feeder line been compromised because of lack of attention?”

India are the current holders of the ICC World cup and the Champions trophy, and Vengsarkar has warned the BCCI that they should always keep their eyes open. “The BCCI, unfortunately, is preoccupied with other matters but this is a wake-up call. They must do more to improve the standard of cricket and for that they must show interest, invest more time and money.”