WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

First things first, here is India’s 17 member squad for the three match Test series in South Africa with the first test beginning from the 5^th of January, 2018 at Cape Town .

Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice captain), Rohit Sharma, Ravinder Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket keeper), Ravichanadran Ashwin, Parthiv Patel (reserve wicket keeper), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Sami and Umesh Yadav.

When I failed to spot either of Kuldeep Yadav or Yuzvendra Chahal in the list of players selected while I scanned through the squad a second time, a question spurred in my mind, what were the selectors thinking? Or for that matter, what was Virat and the think tank’s reasoning behind this absurd decision. I understand selecting a team is solely the selector’s responsibility, but still, I am sure Virat would have been consulted prior to the finalizing of the squad. Why not take, if not both then at least even one, of the most successful bowlers, in the shorter formats during the last six months or so, only behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, and still persist with Ravichanadran Ashwin and Ravinder Jadeja.

I understand, we are taking Test cricket here, and the conditions in South Africa will not be conducive to spin bowling, which I believe was the precise reason for us to take one if not both the bowlers, as firstly, they are both wrist spinners which gives them the added advantage of spinning the ball on most surfaces, and secondly, they have an degree of unknown associated to them as they have not yet played that much international cricket. But alas! What do the three wise men and the chief selector of BCCI along with the team think tank do? They go with the easy decision, as it takes nerve to firstly make a tough decision and then secondly stick with it to face any eventuality.

I must make it clear, that I am not anti Ravichanadran Ashwin or Ravinder Jadeja, but my point is they have not been successful abroad in the past, so what makes the selectors so sure that this time will be any different. For finger spinners like them to be successful they need assistance from pitches which sadly they will not be able to garner from the surfaces they will be provided in South Africa. Another point is that Virat will not be able to use them in a defensive strategy of curtailing the run, as the truer pitches of South Africa will not cut slack for half-decent bowling, like sometimes which happens in the slow and low pitches of the subcontinent where an ordinary spinner gets away with some loose stuff. Over there on the South African pitches you either bowl wicket taking deliveries or you keep chasing leather all day long. And if the selectors are justify their decision by providing Ashwin and Jadeja’s usefulness with the bat coming lower down the order, I rebuke that line of reasoning by stating that, runs only keep you in the match, while it is the ability to take twenty wickets that win test matches.   

I believe we have missed a trick in ignoring and leaving behind, two of our most potent wicket taking weapons; as, Kuldeep Yadav, with his ability to spin the ball prodigiously and the mystery associated with him of being a china-man bowler, and Yuzvendra Chahal, who does not spin the ball that much, as say a Kuldeep Yadav, but being a leg spinner has a bag full of tricks, whose rawness and guile could have come in hand to fox the South African batsman.

As things stand, I am sure the South African batsman are not shaking in their boots, as they know what to expect from Ashwin and Jadeja, sadly not much in terms of spin I suppose. Or do the selectors and the team think tank have an ace up their sleeve, and plan to employ an all out pace attack?   

I ponder!