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Selection of India A team blasted

Three South Zone selection committee members have criticised the manner in which the India A team to tour Pakistan was selected, and have sought the active intervention of BCCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur to rectify perceived wrongs.

In a strongly worded letter to Dungarpur, the trio said they were were thorougly upset by the fashion in which the team had been selected, ignoring the performances.

The selection committee's role in picking up some cricketers was purely on favouritism, rather than merit, was the tenor of the argument advanced by V V Kumar of Tamil Nadu, Brijesh Patel of Karnataka and O K Ramadoss of Kerala.

The trio pointed out that impressive performances by the likes of Amol Mazumdar, Sridharan Sharat, and of Test discards such as Sunil Joshi, Dodda Ganesh and David Johnson had been totally ignored, while players who had not even represented their respective zones had been picked for the A team.

Urging Dungarpur to introduce a foolproof policy for picking national teams, they blasted the "erratic methods" of the national selection committee which, they said, not only destroyed the confidence of budding players but also the self-confidence of selectors from various zones.

As someone who has worked for cricket at various levels, the trio wrote to Dungarpur, he should understand the plight of various selection committees in the country when the national selectors come up with such an "unimaginative work".

In the signed letter, they write: "We understand that a big institution like the BCCI was bound to suffer from internal squabbles and criticism. But such administrative problems should never affect the smooth running of important bodies like the national selection committee. We are confident that your intervention and guidance will do immense service to the game and to the talented players all over the country."