KEEP IN LOOP

 

ALL the attention cornered by the drab affair of Asia Cup on in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over reasons other than cricket must not take away focus from the Duleep Trophy tournament where India’s domestic talents have made some telling statements of intent. The domestic season-opener is being played under the shadow of the Twenty20 tournament of no meaning but a necessity for the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for its own existence. Despite the lack of interest fans are showing in the tournament, it has attracted much attention for the presence of India and Pakistan teams. This is the danger of an international event stealing limelight from an important tournament for aspiring players back at home. The Duleep Trophy has seen some serious talent in all departments. With the top reserves from the senior team involved in the ‘A’ tour games with visiting Australia ‘A’, the next line of players has grabbed the opportunity to show its mettle. Players from Vidarbha, including Danish Malewar and Yash Rathod have scored daddy hundreds to change the complexion of the games they played for Central Zone.

 

Their knocks have been hailed by many former players and pundits of the game. Young Harsh Dubey, too, has proved that his left-arm spin is of the top level. There are also players from other zones who have staked a claim for a place in the top teams of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which has made it a point to organise various ‘A’ tours and Emerging Players tournaments to provide exposure to its talent pool. The onus is now on the selectors who were present in the Duleep Trophy to mark the talent on display and provide them an opportunity without fail. The fear of players getting ignored despite doing well in domestic tournaments stems from many past incidents where batsmen doing bulk of scoring and bowlers taking dozens of wickets found themselves out of favour of the selectors. Indian cricket is full of such stories where serious talent did not find place in the senior team either due to lack of a godfather or simply because teams were packed with established players.

 

Many players have remained domestic workhorses while some retired as giants of State cricket who could never break into the national team despite fulfilling every criteria. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar’s book ‘Idols’ highlighted many such players who ruled domestic cricket during their era but could not make the cut in the senior team. Things have changed now as the game has progressed with various formats. The BCCI, too, has found novel ways to keep its players engaged all through the year in different tournaments. There are more chances for a player to showcase his wares before making the senior grades. One only hopes that the BCCI selectors find a way to accommodate all the top performers from the ensuing domestic season in different formats. They deserve to be kept in the loop.