The Hindu : Ramesh's omission surprising

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 07, 2003

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Sport - Cricket

Ramesh's omission surprising

By S. Dinakar

Chennai, Aug. 6. Even as the country continues its rather elusive search for a pair of reliable Test openers, Sadagopan Ramesh does not even find his name among the 36 probables announced by the national selectors for the pre-season conditioning camp in Bangalore. Shocking, but true.

Here is a man averaging 37.97 in 19 Tests, whose last two knocks for India were 46 and 55, against Sri Lanka in Colombo, `2001. Apparently, the selectors are not convinced. Did anyone say openers are a precious commodity in India?

With the daunting tour of Australia at the end of the year looming large, India will surely have to look beyond the makeshift combination of Virender Sehwag — his place in Test cricket is surely down the order — and Sanjay Bangar. The mistakes committed in New Zealand should not be repeated.

Finding the ideal men at the top of the order may have been the right idea during India A's recent battles in England, and it must be said too that Wasim Jaffer, Shiv Sundar Das, and Sridharan Sriram made a fair number of runs.

It is another matter altogether that Ramesh, who, at 27, has a lot more to offer, should have been picked for that tour in the first place. After all, he had been among the runs in the Ranji Trophy semifinal and final, at the expense of Delhi and Mumbai, both away campaigns for Tamil Nadu.

The point is when someone like Ramesh, reasonably successful at Test level, rediscovers form, the opportunity to get him ready for the bigger battles should not be frittered away; this is a clear case where the ability of a player to adjust to the demands of Test cricket is not in question. If the form is right, play him.

The southpaw's technique might often have come under scrutiny, and there will be fingers pointing at his tendency to play away from the body, however, Ramesh has taken on some of the meanest pacemen in the business without flinching, from the time he made his debut against Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis in the Chennai Test of 1998-99.

For one so new to Test cricket, Ramesh displayed much equanimity in pressure situations, and gradually forged a promising opening partnership with Shiv Sundar Das. Indeed, India, finally, appeared to have stumbled on the right combination. That was before Ramesh pulled out of the South African tour of 2001 due to a back problem.

He recovered from the injury, but suffered a slump in form during the 2001-2002 home season, which was used as an excuse to keep him out of the series against Nasser Hussain's England. Ramesh is still awaiting his comeback call.

He has kept his motivation going though, and runs have flowed from his blade in Chennai's competitive first division league. Among his several three-figure knocks, is a triple hundred. However, the door to international cricket appears shut, for the moment.

The omission from the Bangalore camp must have indeed arrived as a crushing blow to Ramesh. Even if the gathering in the garden city is only for those likely to be picked for the Challenger limited overs series, a place could have always been found for Ramesh; it was a wonderful opportunity to get the left-hander ready mentally, just in case he is selected for a tour game against New Zealand ahead of the Test series.

Indian coach John Wright is of the opinion that the country requires openers with proven records during the tour of Australia, where the top-order has to hold firm to prevent the often lethal Aussie pacemen from making the early inroads.

Ramesh deserves a fair chance. It was in Ahmedabad, 1999, that he made the second of his two Test centuries, countering the Kiwis. The Tamil Nadu batsman must be hoping against hope that he can pick the pieces again, at the same venue, against the same opponent in the first Test beginning on October 8.

The selectors do not appear to be listening though. This is one sorry tale of neglect.

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