The Hindu : Right selection is the key: Wright

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 28, 2002

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Right selection is the key: Wright

By Vijay Lokapally

KINGSTON MAY 27. The Indian team would rarely have enjoyed such luxury — it will be a week's rest for the players between the fifth Test here and the one-day international at Bridgetown scheduled for Wednesday.

But it is a luxury the Indians would have been happy to have dispensed with, if they had a choice. The rest, forced by incessant rain for the past five days, would, however, have given the team management time to reflect on the reasons that contributed towards the two defeats at the Kensington Oval and the Sabina Park.

Two defeats which brought the team down to earth after the euphoria generated at Port of Spain when India won a Test in the West Indies after 26 years.

It was a collective failure no doubt, and coach John Wright seemed perturbed. And rightly too because he had expected a cricketing miracle — an Indian Test series triumph outside the sub-continent. "It was the best

chance for us," most of the seniors admitted after throwing away the opportunity through a combination of bad batting and bad bowling with no

exceptions — batting collapse on the first day of the third Test at Bridgetown and awful bowling on the first day of the fifth Test here.

It would be unfair to point fingers at the coach for the follies of the players because he can only guide them. He can't play for them. Time and again he has driven home the point that each of them would have to chip in with specific contributions but the slide continued as the series progressed. He has always maintained that it was not that the players have not realised their responsibilities. It is just a matter of putting things in the right place at the right time.

``Right selection is the key," Wright has maintained from the time he accepted the job. But he has not had a say in selection matters, quite contrary to the system in the West Indies where the captain and the coach of

the team each has his say. To cite an example, it was well known that the West Indies captain, Carl Hooper, was not happy with the exclusion of Ridley Jacobs as the wicketkeeper but ultimately got his man in at the appropriate time. And it made a whole lot of difference to the team when Jacobs replaced Junior Murray. It only helps if the coach and the captain have a say in selection matters.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has taken a step in the right direction by appointing Viv Richards as the chairman of its National selection committee. It is part of the high priority that the WICB president Wesley Hall has given to setting the organisation on a firm footing. Selection policy will now get top priority as the West Indies draws motivation from the 2-1 Test series win against India.

It is time the selectors back home and the people who mattered gave credence to the fact that this Indian team is unlikely to improve unless the mental toughness of the players improves drastically. Only mentally strong players need to be drafted in to improve the overall attitude of the team. The key is to identify the right players to back, players who would excel in adverse situations.

Wright has a very valid point when he says, "the want and the hunger is as

important, perhaps more important than the ability and the scores and performances in friendly conditions against weaker oppositions." It sums up

the state of Indian cricket really — the team is formidable only at home

because that is where it really encounters amiable conditions.

There is thus an urgent need for the Indian Board to have a proper selection policy. A quality selection committee is an important part of the cricket administration and only quality selectors can pick the right players at all levels — from under-16 to the national team. The entire process of selecting the selectors will have to be reviewed.

Looking at the remaining week of cricket in the Caribbean, with the one-day series now reduced to a three-match competition, the contests would

obviously become tighter with lot of pressure on the players to keep things

in the right frame.

"There's less room for making mistakes because there would be less time for recovery," admitted the coach. It was going to be demanding on the players who have arrived for the one-day series — Mohammad Kaif, Yuveraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Ajit Agarkar and Murali Kartik.

"It would be tough on them because they've had no `nets' at all since the fourth day of the Test. Nothing has been available indoor or outdoor. It'll be hard on them no doubt to find their rhythm straightaway," said Wright.

``Batsmen like to keep hitting the ball and for young guys like Kaif, Yuveraj and Mongia there's been no opportunity to do that. Ideally, it would've been great to have had a winning start here. The conditions are the same for both the teams but it's important that we start well," the coach added.

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