Selection committee to meet earlier

MUMBAI, MAY 15. The selection committee meeting to finalise the 14-member team for the forthcoming Asia Cup tournament has been advanced by a day and would be held on May 22 at Pune, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced here on Monday.

The change has been made as skipper Sourav Ganguly has advanced his date of arrival from England, where he is playing county cricket for Lancashire, by a day, according to the board's executive secretary Sharad Diwadkar.

The selectors will prune down the 25-strong probables list to the required number for the May 28-June 7 tournament at Dhaka.

The probables, barring Ganguly and two others now playing English county cricket - Rahul Dravid (for Kent) and Anil Kumble (for Leicestershire) - are undergoing a conditioning camp from Monday at the Poona Club with coach Kapil Dev overseeing it. The camp is set to conclude on May 24.

Lawyers advice Kapil against talking to media

PUNE: In the meanwhile, Kapil Dev, on Monday said he was advised by his lawyers not to talk to the media about anything other than the functioning of the 10-day conditioning camp for Asia Cup probables, which started here.

Brushing aside questions regarding his alleged involvement in match-fixing, Kapil told reporters after a five- hour workout at the Poona Club that the mood of the players was upbeat ahead of the four-nation meet.

The main purpose of the camp was to get the players fit physically and mentally before the team was selected, Kapil said.

Kapil, who is supervising the camp said, ``I am satisfied with the facilities provided to us so far and the boys have showed tremendous enthusiasm.''

He, however, said that he would have preferred a one- month camp before a major tournament like the Asia Cup. ``The more days we get to prepare ourselves it is better as it helps the boys tone- up their skills to perfection,'' he added.

The BCCI secretary, Jaywant Lele said the organisers of the camp, Maharashtra Cricket Association, had been requested to assist Kapil in every way during the camp.

Queried about Kapil's remark that the board should not send the Indian team to any international tournament for a period of six months as the boys were not in a proper frame of mind, Lele said, ``the Asia Cup is an international commitment by our board and we have to play in it once every two years. Not only the Indian team but all the other three teams have to play in the Asia Cup as it is mandatory,'' Lele said.

When asked why the board did not support Kapil when the former board chief I.S. Bindra allegedly named him as the man who had offered ex-all rounder Manoj Prabhakar Rs. 25 lakh to play below his par against Sri Lanka in 1994, Lele said there has been lot of allegations but no proof.

``The board will deal with this issue once we get proper proof. Till then we will like to wait and watch,'' he added.

On the matter of team selection he said, ``we (board) have also decided to invite the coach (Kapil) for all the Indian team selection meetings in future. The other two players, who are playing in England, leg spinner Kumble and Dravid, would join the team at Delhi if selected,'' he added.

The chairman of the selection committee, Chandu Borde, was happy the way the camp was progressing. ``In fact, we came to know about the shifting of the camp venue from Calcutta to Pune just 10 days ago and I think Pune Club has done a good job so far,'' he added.

Queried about Ganguly's remark on a website that Venkatesh Prasad, who bowled well in Sharjah recently, should have been included in the 25-member conditioning camp list, Borde said, ``we want to give the youngsters a chance as we have the next World Cup in mind.''

Elaborating on the selection process for the camp, Borde said Javagal Srinath did not want to play as he wanted the BCCI to use him sparingly. ``Though Venkatesh Prasad bowled well in Sharjah we wanted to give the other young fast bowlers a chance,'' he said.

``When I watched some of the fast bowlers in the nets today I was really impressed and I think they should be given a chance to prove their mettle,'' Borde added.

- PTI

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Barua gets top billing
Next     : Officials berate Bindra