The Indian cricket community didn’t quite give a round of applause when SRH all-rounder Nitish Reddy and KKR quick Harshit Rana were picked for the tour to Australia. The sniggering disapproval was accompanied by the throwaway allegation of ‘IPL influencing Test selection’. Add to the mix coach Gautam Gambhir’s KKR connection and an overbaked conspiracy theory was ready to be served across the country.
Before the team’s departure, Gambhir would be asked about Reddy’s selections. He would say the right things about the 21-year-old Andhra boy being “incredibly talented” and how “if given an option, he will deliver”.
Not many shared Gambhir’s confidence in the rookie IPL star with a first-class batting and bowling average of 23 and 26 respectively from 24 first-class games. However, the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar was on the same page.
The Perth Test win validated their choice as both Reddy and Rana did their bit to take India to an unexpected Test win. Reddy scored runs when the team needed them and Rana claimed crucial breakthroughs. More than the skills, it was their temperament that impressed the pundits. Gambhir and Agarkar would have exchanged smiles by the sudden collective U-turn.
India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy hits a six during play in the first cricket test between India and Australia in Perth, Australia, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)
On Day 1 of the Adelaide game, Reddy would treat the day and night pink Test as some Syed Mushtaq outing. He hit a reverse scoop six in his inning of 42 that had to end as there were no reliable partners at the other end. He seemed to have that ‘thing’ in him that only the expert eye can spot. Agarkar and Gambhir were those eyes. So everytime the camera panned on the vindicated two, one could visualise the thought-bubble above their head saying, “There is more to selection than just statistics!”
The former national selector Dilip Vengsarkar, a sharp talent-spotter with sharper repartee, had once given a cutting reply to a reporter who had questioned his choice of a player by quoting numbers. “In that case, why don’t we make Mohandas Menon the chairman of selectors.” Menon was, and is, India’s leading numbers man.
Vengsarkar is gifted with the two prime qualities that made one a successful selector. The former India captain, they say, needed just one glimpse to know if the player had it in him to play international cricket. Plus he had the courage and conviction to back his instincts. These two priceless Vengsarkar traits put Indian cricket’s Big Two – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – on path to greatness.
This famous Rohit story from junior days endorses the cult of Vengsarkar the selector. This was 2005-06 and Rohit was just another Mumbai under-19 cricketer. He had grace and ‘a lot of time’ but not many runs. Mumbai selectors did persist with him but were running out of patience.
IND vs AUS: Rohit Sharma confirmed that he will bat in the middle-order in the second Test in Adelaide. (PTI)
Then fate would concoct a pleasant conspiracy. Vengsarkar would travel to Delhi NCR for a wedding. Coincidentally so would Rohit. He was to play an Indian Oil vs ONGC game. Being the national selector, Vengsakar took some time out to watch the oil companies play. Indian cricket was in luck, that was to be the day Rohit played sublime cricket. He scored a 100 and gave a sound thrashing to a bowling attack that had star bowlers like Munaf Patel and Amit Mishra.
Vengsarkar left the ground impressed. He would convey to the Mumbai Ranji selectors to pick Rohit for the Irani Trophy. They did but he wasn’t named in the playing XI. The selectors would get a piece of Vengsarkar’s mind. He now took things in his hands and included the teenage star in the Deodhar Trophy. Against North Zone, Rohit hit a sparkling 143. Vengsarkar wasn’t wrong.
There was this other time when Vengsarkar, as he himself says, lost his job as selector because he wasn’t ready to change his opinion about a player he backed. The said cricketer was Virat Kohli.
That was 2008 and India was to tour Sri Lanka. At the start of the year, Vengsarkar had seen Kohli at the Emerging Trophy game in Australia. Once again, Kohli had given him the same feel that he had got when he saw Rohit. But at the selection meeting, India coach Gary Kirsten and Dhoni were not sure. They said they hadn’t seen the Delhi boy that Vengsarkar was talking about. ‘”You haven’t seen him but I have. This boy needs to play.” – Vengsarkar had said.
Even BCCI bigwig N Srinivasan wanted Badrinath, the player from his state. It didn’t happen, not on Vengsarkar’s watch. Had Vengsarkar not backed his instincts and toed the line instead, Indian cricket history would have been different, and probably less-glorious.
Gambhir is new to the job but Agarkar has been around. The two together give hope. Agarkar has picked two World Cup teams – ODI and T20. Unlike in the past, these squads didn’t have the obvious omissions – refer to the 2019 World Cup when India reached England to find out they had too many false No.4s. The real No.4 Ambati Rayudu was left at home. That team failed to reach the final. As for the bunch that Agarkar and Co picked finished runners-up and champions.
Harshit Rana alongside head of India’s selection committee Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir. (BCCI on X)
Not too long ago, the national selection committee had faced a crisis of credibility. In a country that has 10 ex-cricketers who have played 100-plus Tests, the most important cricketing call was taken by those with a fraction of the experience of the stalwarts. The selection committee with a ‘lite’ tag lacked the conviction to get into a debate, or overrule, the powerful captains and coaches – Kohli, Rohit, Rahul Dravid.
Agarkar and Gambhir have a reputation, stature, attitude and also a temper. The Mumbai players, former and present, refer to Agarkar as ‘Tiger’. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were banned as Agarkar and others thought they lacked commitment to play domestic cricket.
Ask anyone at Kotla and they will tell you that Gambhir couldn’t be pushed around. He has fast-tracked many talented players and backed them. Both have made mistakes but they have an opinion and conviction to take a stand.
It helps that both Gambhir and Agarkar have the skills to fall back on in case things don’t go well with their present employers, the BCCI. They have had stints as coaches with IPL teams and been commentators. Those with options can afford to defy diktats and take bold decisions. This was evident from the Agarkar panel’s preferring Suryakumar Yadav over Hardik Pandya for T20 captaincy. There were those in the BCCI who wanted Hardik but SKY it would be.
So far so good. Now comes the tough part. Indian cricket’s big transition is round the corner. Agarkar and Gambhir would soon be making the crucial call on Rohit and Virat. It’s one thing to back talented rookies and another to drop superstar stalwarts.
Send feedback to sandydwivedi@gmail.com
