JOIN USThe new senior selection committee, appointed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Thursday, headed by Sandeep Patil has a very significant job ahead of it—guiding the Indian cricket team through a period of transition.
The recent retirements of Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman have necessitated an intense hunt for players who can maintain the standards set by those two modern-day greats. The previous panel under K Srikkanth has identified Cheteshwar Pujara and Suresh Raina as the immediate successors, but the task of giving them ample opportunities and finding more support talent rests with the new bunch of selectors. By no means, it’s an easy job. Indian fans, ecstatic in victories and prone to over-reaction in defeats, are quite used to a fairly successful decade or so, and they will expect nothing short of an encore when the new generation takes over.
Herein lies the danger for the new selection committee. The choice of players they make will come under far more intense scrutiny. During the tenure of Srikkanth & Co, India had won the 50-over World Cup and reached the zenith of ICC Test rankings. In all probability, Patil and the four other wise men (Roger Binny, Vikram Rathour, Saba Karim and Rajinder Hans) will be in charge during the next World Cup in 2015, a period that will also see India featuring in some high profile clashes against England, Australia and South Africa. So, the selection process needs to be clear and precise.
They will also have to deal with the delicate issue of Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement. There have been a clamour for Tendulkar’s retirement after a clutch of failures in the Test series against England, Australia and New Zealand over the last year, and at some point they will be asked to be a part of that momentous day, and how they will handle a potentially explosive and emotionally charged situation remains to be seen. Then they will have to address another vexed issue of M S Dhoni’s captaincy as the Jharkhand man has expressed his desire to give up one format to extend his career, and the new panel of selectors will have to make sure that such external matters do not derail India’s preparations for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Intriguing times are ahead, indeed.