Is Indian cricket talent being wasted on the bench?

“Bowled him once again, he’s making it a habit of going through Rahane’s defence…much expected from the young man, (but) he’s walking back without a run against his name. It’s 11 for 1″. These were the last words heard from the commentary box after Rahane’s dismissal in Ranchi.

Someone who has watched Ajinkya Rahane closely from the start of his international career would feel disconsolate after watching his dismissals in the last few matches. He’s landing in no man’s land with his footwork, unable to read swing and reach to the pitch of the ball. For a player who was flawless with his footwork and deemed technically similar to Dravid, Rahane has suddenly lost everything.

Rewind to last year and we’d find Rahane warming the bench, series after series. He wasn’t given any chances when Sehwag was opening the innings but all of a sudden he’s criticized early into his career. I feel that it’s totally unjustified for an upcoming player when he’s asked to perform under pressure and score runs.

In his debut series against England, he was a revelation, and many former England players like Geoffrey Boycott stated that he was simply amazing. But Rahane wasn’t able to maintain his consistency because of some poor team selection. i.e Rahane started in the matches only when the senior players were absent. Suddenly when a senior player came back, he was asked to sit back down. He wasn’t assured a place in the starting eleven for the next game even if he performed well.

How would you expect somebody to do well if he was constantly in and out of the team? It’s like asking a carpenter who hasn’t worked with his tools for the last few months, to suddenly to furnish a door in no time. As a cricket lover, I would love to see Rahane dominating the bowlers like he did in the IPL. Something that has cost his form is the lack of match practice. Simply sitting on the substitution bench doesn’t help in revealing the talent of a young batsman. Either that, or otherwise he should have been released to domestic cricket.

I really fear this may happen to another player who is considered as the best batsman at the moment in India; Cheteshwar Pujara. When Pujara was called up for the India-England ODI series 2013, he joined the team after scoring a triple hundred and guiding his team to the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy 2012-13 season. If he was not a part of starting eleven plans, he should have been allowed to play the Ranji Trophy semis. A player of this calibre shouldn’t be wasted on the bench. If he is not included in the starting eleven, he should be released to play cricket elsewhere, as wasted talent is a common phenomenon in India. With the Australian series coming up, India needs an in-form Pujara at No.3.

Praveen Kumar and Manoj Tiwary are prime examples. Praveen announced himself to the world in Australia through his display of pure swing bowling, but as he is injury prone, he was unable to do the same in the ICC World Cup. This shows the absence of a proper mentor. Manoj Tiwary was kept on bench for a very long time, but whenever he was selected in the eleven, he justified his selection with good scores.

If India is looking ahead to the 2015 World Cup, they should look at the physical as well as mental fitness of the players, because we are the current World Champions and we are going to Australia to defend the title. Technically graceful players like Pujara and Rahane shouldn’t be allowed to disappear from the radar of team selection. We should give them more changes and guide them as they will help us defend the World Cup title in 2015, unlike players like Rohit Sharma or Ishant Sharma, who have a made a mess of the chances provided.

I really hope Rahane performs well in the next 2 matches against England in Mohali and Dharmasala and shows us what he’s really capable of. Also, if Pujara is not going to start in the next 2 matches, he should be released for the Ranji Trophy Finals to gain match practice ahead of Australia’s tour of India.