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No politics in selection, say Jadeja, Ganguly

Indian cricket stars Ajay Jadeja and Saurav Ganguly denied that politcs had stifled talent in the country.

In Dubai as part of a promotional tour organised by an Indian company, the two stars said inborn talent and a lot of luck were the criteria for success in Indian cricket.

"Every system has its own weakness and maybe, ours has some problems that need to be addressed too," said Jadeja at a luncheon meeting. "But if a youngster is genuinely talented, he is bound to be picked up and promoted."

Jadeja cited the example of Sachin Tendulkar. "He was picked up at age 15, and there was no politics in his selection," Jadeja pointed out.

When Ganguly was reminded of how he himself had to struggle to get back into the national team, the left hander said, "I would not blame the administration for this, the thing is that in India, there is lots of talent, so the selectors always have too many choices."

Jadeja further felt that matters in India, in respect of player earnings, was rapidly improving. "In fact, we are better off than our counterparts in England for example," said Jadeja. "Here, we get good jobs, we get benefits like insurance cover, and a player with 45 caps for his state gets a benefit. Over there, you have to play county cricket for 10 years to qualify for a benefit game."

Saeed Atiq, chairman of the Abu Dhabi cricket council, for his part urged Indian cricketers to help promote the game through the UAE.

Sonny Abraham/UNI