As was suspected, the Indian selectors do not have any plans for the future. It is clear from the team that was selected for the West Indies tour. One cannot find such a hapless board despite boasting of rich resources. First, it was the recall of Pujara at Edgbaston in 2021 which resulted in utter failure. Then, the recall of Rahane on the basis of his runs for CSK in the IPL. The continued persistence with Umesh Yadav. The list is quite endless. The Indian team for West Indies, though it has got some youngsters, is not really forward looking.
The Test squad Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk), Navdeep Saini.
Gavaskar is furious over Pujara
Though Pujara and Umesh Yadav have been dropped, which is the right thing to do, a few of the out-of-form players for the last several years are still persisted with. I am not going to find fault in the axing of Pujara. He afterall, has been given a lengthy rope and hasn’t lived up to the expectations. His good days left him longtime ago. I only hope that irrespective of his performance for Sussex or for Saurashtra, he must not comeback into the team. It will be a regressive step if it happens. However, not everyone is pleased that Pujara is dropped. Gavaskar is furious that Pujara has been made the scapegoat.
“Why has he been dropped? Why has he been made the scapegoat for our batting failures? He has been a loyal servant of Indian cricket,” Gavaskar told India Today. “But because he does not have millions of followers on platforms who will make a noise in case he gets dropped, so you drop him. That is something beyond my understanding. What is the criteria of dropping him and keeping the others who failed? I do not know because nowadays, there is no media interaction with the selection committee chairman, where you could ask these questions.”
Well, he is probably correct. He wasn’t the only failure. Rohit, Kohli, Gill & Jadeja failed too. Ideally, Kohli alongwith Pujara should have been dropped. Kohli’s performance over the last several years is not that better. He is surviving because of his past legacy. One can only hope that he, Rohit, Rahane, the so-called seniors are told that from now on, it will be series to series basis. You are expected to perform in every series. Otherwise, you are out.
The dropping of Umesh Yadav
If at all there has been a journeyman cricketer, it must be Umesh Yadav. Having played for more than 10 years, he hasn’t improved a wee bit. Even Ishant Sharma, who learned the game at the highest level, improved after 10 years but Yadav, he always remained an enigma. When he was in the squad for the WTC finals, Indians knew that we are going in with a bowler less. He is or rather was, blessed with pace. If only he used his brain often in games, he could have been the spearhead for the Indian team but Bumrah, who made his debut much later than Yadav became the spearhead and now, it is Siraj.
All of these must make Yadav cringe. He must realise where he fell off. What was the problem that he wasn’t able to achieve the heights that he expected to when he made his debut? Not that it will matter any longer because I do not or rather I wish he is not given one more chance to fail.
The selection of some of the youngsters
By the looks of it, Jaiswal will replace Pujara in the middle. My only worry is that there are far too many players from Mumbai which is not good for India based on the autobiography of Sanjay Manjrekar. Nonetheless, it is good to see the selection of Navdeep Saini. He is someone who has got raw pace. Ofcourse, he is wayward but when he gets his line and length right, he will be difficult to bat against. There are some precious diamonds in Indian cricket like Saini, Kuldeep Sen and Umran Malik who with raw pace, can unsettle the opponents. India made the mistake of not guiding Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron properly. The same mistake must not be repeated with Saini.
Ashwin, Jadeja & Siraj will certainly be in the playing eleven which negates the need for Shardul. I would like to see Siraj, Saini & Mukesh in the lineup.
Wrapping up Indian team for West Indies
India has been winning games in the country because of Ashwin and Jadeja who are virtually unplayable on some questionable pitches. Outside of India, it is because of decent seam bowlers though we have lost a lot of games that should have been won. A couple of Tests in England in 2018 and a couple of Tests in South Africa come to mind immediately. It is the batsmen who have let the team down consistently. The misfiring batsmen are going scot-free except for a few changes here and there. There doesn’t seem to be a concerted effort to make the batsmen be much more responsible. Overall, I think this team could have done with a few more additions and some deletions. Again, I repeat, I can only hope that the seniors are told that they are under the scanner and failure in West Indies will not be viewed kindly.