Letter of the Day

Eye Opener!

The non-availability of the best phenomenon in cricket "Sachin Tendulkar" and Zaheer Khan, the best fast bowling talent available in the country today is a blessing in disguise for the Indian cricket in the ongoing series against West Indies.

With the exception of Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Harbhajan Singh others have not earned their place so far for the World Cup. Young players like Sehwag, Kaif and Yuvraj Singh have played some match winnings knocks but they have not faced the real challenge and pressure of world cricket. So the Indian selectors and the think tank must utilize this opportunity to iron out the deficiency of the Indian one-day contingent.

Indian team think tank should assess the strength of new comers in the forthcoming matches. There is no point trying a youngster for first three matches and then selecting another set of players for the remaining part. Then we will end up with nothing. By winning the series 4 -3 or 5-2 will not serve the purpose of the tour, since we have limited matches before the mega event. Instead we should approach the series with a strategy.

Following are the few suggestions of those strategies.

1. Young wicket keeper Parthiv Patel should be groomed and he should be given ample chances in the ongoing series. Let Rahul Dravid do the wicket keeping in the World Cup but has a backup we should train Patel too. By this we can give Dravid the required rest and also develop confidence on another youngster.

2. The fitness of senior players like Javagal Srinath and Kumble should be tested and we should not hide their injuries. If Srinath or Kumble is not able to give 100 % then they should be replaced. There is no point in keeping a senior player like Srinath has a substitute in the team. A place in the Indian cricket team is not a government job to assure till he retires.

3. We should find a solution for finding an all rounder to the Indian team. Instead if we treat players like Ajith Agarkar has all rounders then we are fooling ourselves. The service made by Agarkar in the last world cup is an example for that. The first one-day international is an ample proof for that.

Almost 20 years have gone after Kapil and his devils lifted the World Cup. So let us keep our nation's pride in our mind rather than supporting some individuals. We have very talented team and if we work in the right direction India will definitely win the world cup 2003.

V Santhanam