My first blog on RCB site, written on the first day of the Nagpur Test with SA but published late. This analyses the selectors mindset and their inability to think progressively in team selection. The lowest point of this selection was replacing Dinesh Karthik with W. Saha, choosing unnecessarily extra number of bowlers, and ignoring Abhishek Nayar repeatedly despite his stellar performances on all conditions and all formats of the game. Read on..

Wriddiman Saha’s inclusion as a specialist batsman has summed up the sad state of affairs in Indian cricket selection process. Yes, much has been commented thereon by everyone and the true effect will be known once this test match ends. Even if Saha goes on to score a century, the move to have no back up batsman makes one raise a question: Do the selectors know enough about Indian cricket? Having followed the game for last 3 decades however, it does not surprise me that much, as many times in the past similar stranger things have happened.

Let me stay in the present than go back to the days in the past. A few days back when the 15 were selected for the first test, the team had 3 spinners and 4 medium pace bowlers, 2 wicket keepers but only 6 batsmen. And this selection was done after knowing very well that Laxman returned from Bangladesh with an injury. And worser still, Dinesh Karthik, a guy who has on several occasions in the past performed better than regular batsmen (I have provided some statistics in the following paragraphs), was replaced by Saha to be a back up for Dhoni (but not as a batsman). Everyone has spoken enough of it, and then Dinesh Karthik’s bat spoke too in the next two innings that he played in the Duleep Trophy finals with knocks of 181 and 150. And as if that was not enough, selectors asked an inconsistent Rohit Sharma to stay back as cover for Laxman! Luck, Destiny or Fate, whichever word with a capital you use, Rohit ultimately missed out due to a last minute injury!

The Indian selectors are the highest authority in terms of knowledge of cricket and cricketers in India. At least that is what is supposed to be. I know they watch a lot of domestic matches to make a judgement to help them in their ultimate selection process. I can understand sometimes some bold choices can go right, can go wrong. You cant blame them for it. But when they select like what they did for the current series against the No2 side in the world, I wonder whether they used any logic. Or do they have other considerations? Say for example, not more than 4-5 players from each zone, so maybe that’s why they dropped Karthik from South for Saha from East? Why we needed 4 pacers when it was known that the wicket at Nagpur will not have green top? Probably Tyagi and Mithun will benefit seeing SA fast bowlers bowl.

To have no back up batsman even after knowing one of the six (Laxman) was not a sure starter and then to drop a seasoned second wicket keeper who has proved that he can bat better than regular batsmen even when opening the innings – all of this defies complete cricketing logic.

First, I will take the case of Karthik. Just a few days back I saw the replay of a ODI on Star Cricket, India v/s South Africa played in Belfast Ireland about 3 years ago, just after Karthik was replaced by Dhoni as the keeper. After a good start from Ganguly and Sachin, but failure of captain Dravid and Dhoni (duck), Karthik lent able support to Yuvraj with a match winning partnership of 85. I remember he has done this time and again, be it as a specialist batsman for India on and off whenever he was given an opportunity, and for his state side Tamil Nadu, for South Zone and his Delhi Daredevils side in the IPL.

Curious to know more, I went back to statistics to check what did Dinesh Karthik do after he was replaced by Dhoni as the keeper in Sept 2005. He was not played any tests in 2006 but in the 6 consecutive tests from Jan to Aug 2007 (one in SA as a keeper replacing an injured Dhoni, 2 in Bangladesh and 3 in England as an opener), DK scored 5 fifties and one century with an aggregate of 571 runs; Leaving out the first one that he played as a keeper (where he scored 101 runs in 2 innings), DK scored 470 runs in the other 5 tests at an average greater than 50. Incidentally, MS Dhoni scored 331 runs in these 5 tests, and among regular batsmen, only Sachin scored more than DK, 484 runs to be precise.

When thrown a challenge to lead the South Zone side, he proved two things to the selectors. One, great batsmanship with such big knocks, but the second achievement, of fitness, was greater. He batted for around 9 hours in 2 innings and kept wickets for another 13 hours – a sum total of 22 hours on the ground out of around 27 hours of cricket played in the Duleep Trophy finals. He showed good captaincy abilities too, but sloppy catching of his Zonal team mates let him down badly preventing a well deserved victory to lift the Duleep Trophy. Probably, Wasim Jaffer is more desitned to lift trophies than anyone else this year (with Mumbai winning Ranji finals by 6 runs last month)!

The selectors, the commentators and some writers state that Karthik is the best 2nd wicket keeper in India. I would beg to differ. I would like to say he is the joint top wicket keeper batsman in India alongside Dhoni! Above records give ample testimony to the fact that he has not let down the team with whatever role given to him – as a wicket keeper, as an opening batsman or as a middle order batsman – and mainly on tough overseas conditions in England and South Africa. Only flamboyance and aggressive batting style of Dhoni forced Karthik to surrender his keeping gloves for India in 2005 at a time when Karthik was considered a young dynamic wicket keeper batsman. Mind you, he is 4 years younger than Dhoni.

Let me move on from Karthik and talk about his state mate S. Badrinath, another unlucky chap for a long time. He has finally got a chance to play for India after displaying so much talent and big scores in domestic cricket and in matches against visiting teams. Now that he is in, will he get enough opportunities? Sure he will play both tests against South Africa irrespective of his success in the first test, as Dravid and Yuvraj are likely to miss both tests through their injuries. But when these two and Laxman are back, and with his state mate Vijay preferred ahead of him, where will Badrinath go? A good question it will be, hope our supreme authority of selectors know an answer for that. Performance will not be a criteria for sure, because I feel Yuvraj Singh has been in the team more for his reputation than any consistent performance.

It’s a bit strange that 3 guys from one state, Tamil Nadu, namely, M. Vijay, S. Badrinath and D. Karthik have to fight for that non existing one spot in Indian middle order. I know many will say that there are other contenders for the same slot – Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Manish Pandey and so on. But for me, the guy who is missing out is Abhishek Nayar. This guy is in top form currently, playing in different conditions and different formats with great ease – a match winning contribution in the Ranji final on a 'green top' in Mysore, a double ton in Duleep Trophy semifinals and a century against visiting South Africans. He is a decent medium pacer as well - capable of giving vital breakthroughs as he has done for Mumbai and West Zone. In the Nagpur test, he would have been the ideal replacement for Yuvraj Singh – a left hand bat and a useful change bowler. But alas, the selectors have some of their own logic! While Nayar has left all other prospects from his zone – Pujara, Rahane, Rohit Sharma way behind, the selectors preferred Rohit over him this week. Strange logic but divine justice (Rohit missing out!).

The same logic applies to Harbhajan Singh. He finds a place in the team as the first choice spinner just on reputation and past performance, with the selectors giving the excuse of not having a good spinner around!! If we see Bhajji’s record in the last 2 years, it’s pretty poor. He has taken 94 wickets at over 31 runs per wicket since the beginning of 2008, with only three 5-wicket hauls in 35 innings from 21 tests. He has ceased to be the strike bowler for the team, bowls a more defensive leg stump line in tests and fails to take even tailenders wickets these days. But he continues to be in the team on his previous reputation alone!

For me it appears as if the team is first chosen on reputation than on talent as is evident in the selection of Yuvraj, Harbhajan etc. So, talents are lost time and again, and Indian cricket selection goes back to the strange days. Imagine two middle order batsmen make their debuts together in the same test match, when no single player did that in the Indian middle order in the last 7 years! How is that? Got to ask the selectors for any apparent logic.

However, all of this will soon be forgotten as a test series is replaced by ODI series (with some specialist men coming in), T20 International, followed by IPL with all glitz and glamour – all in such a continuous grind that in a month's time, everyone will forget what went wrong a month ago in the India-SA series! And Messrs Krish Srikkanth and company will continue to rock on, along with a pay packet!!