Last nail in the selectors' coffin?
Prem Panicker
For me, Thursday was to celebrate - not because India defeated Bangladesh to get into the final of the Asia Cup, because it was pretty much a given that if the weather didn't take a hand, India would do what it had to.
Rather, I was bucked by events in Bombay, pertaining to the selection of replacements for the Indian team, ahead of the upcoming Test and ODI series versus Sri Lanka.
An innocuous press statement released in Mumbai on Thursday said that the five national selectors, deferring to the request of Indian skipper Sachin Tendulkar and coach Madan Lal, had agreed to postpone the selection of the replacements for the Indian squad to take part in the upcoming Tests and ODIs against Sri Lanka to Saturday evening.
The reason behind the postponement is obvious - Tendulkar and Madan Lal plan to make some changes in the XI that will take part in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka Saturday. Dropping a couple of players now, ahead of the key game, could lower their morale and harm the team effort in the final, so the exercise is being deferred. Simple.
What intrigued me, though, was two other statements made at the same time. One, that BCCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur spoke to the five selectors before their meeting began. And two, that the four selectors at the end of their meeting authorised chairman of selectors Ramakant Desai to liaise with Tendulkar and Lal on Saturday, and to make whatever changes were required to the touring party.
First up, what this means is that Tendulkar, for once, will have a chance to get the kind of squad he wants - interestingly, there is a proviso that while the selection will be confined to the 13 players who made it to the Asia Cup camp in Bangalore, Desai has been authorised to go beyond that shortlist in case the Indian captain so desired.
But the most intriguing element is the chat Dungarpur had with the selectors. While the party line is that there was nothing more to it than a pep talk and a reiteration of faith in the committee, the actual fact is the exact opposite. BCCI sources indicate that the selectors came in for a tongue-lashing from the board president (with secretary J Y Lele in attendance), for having totally ruined the credibility of the committee with a series of bizarre decisions in the recent past.
It is this talk, and the realisation that the committee has finally gone too far with its high-handed behaviour, that lies behind the sudden willingness of Messers Shivlal Yadav, Kishen Rungta, M Pandove and Sambaran Bannerjee to leave matters in Desai's hands. I mean, Lele's reasoning that this was done so that the board could save on the expense of calling the selectors back to Bombay for another meeting on Saturday is a laugh - since when did the board ever worry about spending money?
Having given the committee enough rope, the board is finally crying halt to their antics - and that is a plus right there.
But more interesting is the information that the BCCI is considering in all seriousness a proposal to terminate the tenure of this selection committee at the end of September. At that time, as per the proposal, the five-man, zone-based system of appointing the selection committee will be scrapped, and a three-man committee comprising ex-Test cricketers of proven ability and experience be instituted instead. These three, and the captain and manager of the team, will get together to pick the national sides for subsequent tours and tournaments.
Interestingly, the sources confirmed that both Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar had already been approached to serve on the three-man selection panel, and that both had declined, citing media commitments. Thus, top BCCI officials are now approaching other Indian stars of yesteryears, in a bid to find out their availability, before short-listing the panel.
And that, as far as Indian cricket is considered, could be the best news it has had in a very long time - and it couldn't have come at a better time, could it?
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