The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the selection committee and the Centre of Excellence (CoE), headed by VVS Laxman, are adopting a cautious approach while clearing players for international engagements. They are keen to avoid a situation where a player is picked for a match or series only to be declared unavailable soon after.
The newly-adopted policy is because of lessons learnt from past instances. Harshit Rana’s case is a prime example. He made a long-awaited comeback in June for the Ireland and England tours after a five-month hiatus, only to be ruled out in less than two weeks. He could not complete the England tour and had to be sent back, with Prince Yadav coming in as his replacement.
The BCCI, CoE and selectors now want to be doubly sure before declaring a player available for selection. “Not just 100 per cent, but they want to be 200 per cent confident about a player’s availability before releasing him,” said a source familiar with the policy.
Rana case, of course, is not an isolated one. Jasprit Bumrah and Sai Sudharsan had to be replaced by Auqib Nabi and Sarfaraz Khan respectively, after being selected for the Sri Lanka Tests, Suryansh Shedge came in at the last minute for Nitish Kumar Reddy for the Ireland and England tour, while Varun Chakaravarthy was replaced by Ravi Bishnoi for the Zimbabwe tour at the last minute.
After several such instances, the CoE is now treading a cautious path. This has led to some conditional selections of late, with a note that some players will be released only after clearing fitness tests. In Tuesday’s media release announcing the squad for the T20Is against Afghanistan, Bumrah, Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy, besides Rana, were listed as conditional picks.
CoE head VVS Laxman re-emphasised the policy in place, which he described as an exercise in transparency. “They (players) understand that they’re not yet ready to participate in the national series. It’s always player-centric and team-centric. So that communication is happening seamlessly. I think what the BCCI has done is there’s transparency in all the fitness reports and also in the selection.
“At the end of the selection, whether it’s a release to the press, it’s clearly mentioned that these players are picked subject to fitness. Means if they don’t clear the fitness test, the selectors will know who are the other players who will go in their place if they don’t clear the fitness test. I mean, it’s basic common sense,” Laxman said in a recent media interaction.
Speaking on the same topic at the interaction, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia explained that selection meetings take place three-four weeks before the team departs, which is why an asterisk is added to players under the programme of rehabilitation.
“So if he gets picked within that period of 21 or 28 days, he will be taken into the team,” Saikia said. “So that is precisely why we do not outrightly reject him because on the date of selection, we are rejecting him because on that day he is not fit. But, by the time it will be effectively required for the travel or to play the match, by that time he may be totally fit”.
As for the current squad, it has been reliably learnt that Bumrah should be available for the matches, although there is an asterisk against his name in the release. The selectors are confident that he will be ready for the three-match series against Afghanistan, which starts on September 13 in New Delhi.
The same applies to Reddy. Sidelined with a quadriceps injury, the all-rounder has started bowling six to seven overs a day at full tilt at the CoE, and those familiar with the situation say he should be available for the Delhi games. The cases of Rana and Sundar are not clear yet. “The CoE will not take chances,” said the source.
Leave a Reply