Patience And Perseverance

The Kris Srikkanth led selection committee might be tempted to press panic buttons following the inconsistent showing of the Indian team in the just concluded tri series in Sri Lanka. They would be better of in resisting that temptation.

Successive selection committees headed by Dilip Vengsarkar and Srikkanth have made it clear that a youth policy is the best bet for the future, even as they build a team for the World Cup to be held in the sub continent early next year.

By adopting such a policy the selectors have succeeded in picking players who have excelled while making the India the No 1 Test team and the No 2 ODI team in the ICC rankings. The Indian team at full strength is an ideal blend of youth and experience. 

It is important to put into proper perspective the showing in Sri Lanka for it must be remembered that the Indian side was not at full strength. It is never going to be an easy task to take the field without the services of Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan. 

Under the circumstances two wins, two losses and one no result was about par for the course. After all it's well known that Sri Lanka are a difficult team to beat at home and, unlike India and New Zealand, they were at full strength. 

By and large the Indian team is now wearing a settled look and to make changes now is not desirable. I know, questions have been asked as to the failures of the three young batsmen Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Kartik as also Ravindra Jadeja who has not exactly fitted the utility man's slot at No 7. Kohli and Rohit are perhaps the two best young batsmen in the country and to drop them now would be a folly after investing in them for so long. 

Looking ahead to the World Cup it is clear that barring unforeseen circumstances the first choice batsmen will be Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni. Kohli and Rohit should be the first reserves for the extra batsman's slot while Kartik can double up as deputy to Dhoni behind the stumps. In what is expected to be a long campaign it is important to have a second wicketkeeper.

Zaheer, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar should be the first choices for the new ball attack while Harbhajan Singh still remains the No 1 spin bowler. Pragyan Ojha has gained experience and has done well enough to be included as the second spinner, unless the selectors pull off a surprise and recall Murali Kartik, who has been enjoying a successful county cricket season in England for a couple of years now.

For me the only real question mark hovers around the No 7 slot and I have always believed that Irfan Pathan is still the best bet as utility man. Besides bolstering the late order batting he also makes the pace quartet complete. The World Cup squad should be built around these players.

As I said, the team is wearing a well settled look and at full strength is an ideal blend of youth and experience. Any major changes at this juncture with the mega event under six months away will only jeopardize the by and large smooth build up.

The selectors should not get carried away by one or two defeats along the way.

In fact, Srikkanth and his team would do well to take inspiration from the chairman of a previous selection committee some 40 years ago. Vijay Merchant also adopted a youth policy during the 1969-70 season and for the Tests against New Zealand and Australia he gave caps to eight youngsters including Chetan Chauhan, Eknath Solkar, Mohinder Amarnath, Gundappa Viswanath and Ashok Mankad.

When India fared badly, Merchant came in for a lot of criticism for investing too heavily on youth as his detractors put it. Undaunted, he continued to blood youngsters and the following season gave, among others, Sunil Gavaskar his big break. The far sighted approach paid off in 1971 with India winning a Test series in West Indies and then in England both for the first time.

Most of the youngsters blooded by Merchant played notable roles in the twin triumph. The current selection committee should show the same qualities of patience and perseverance.