Jaffer, Anil in ODIs! What a joke

Former comeback man Mohinder Amarnath once termed the Indian selectors as 'a bunch of jokers' and the same can be applied to the present lot of Indian cricket selectors, headed by former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar.

How can the selectors pick Wasim Jaffer ahead of an in-form Gautam Gambhir in the One-Day squad and fall back on leg-spinner Anil Kumble, one of the slowest movers on the field and a total failure on the bouncy South African wickets in the past, ahead of a consistent performer and off-spinner Ramesh Powar, who was not even given a chance to play in the on-going Champions Trophy.

The mind-set of the chairman of selectors, Dilip Vengsarkar, seems to stink of zonal bias than anything else. The gentleman, who had promised to get rid off the zonal bias seems to be practicing it more than anyone else by replacing one Mumbai player -- Powar, who is a deserving candidate, with another -- Jaffer, who is more of a Test player than an ODI player and an average fielder.

If you go by the current form in domestic cricket, Gambhir, who is an attacking batsman and more than an average fielder would have been a better choice than Jaffer, who was unimpressive in the recent Challenger Trophy, which is the bench mark to pick a player for the national ODI team.

In Kumble’s case the selectors sees to be desperate to find a match-winning bowler after India’s disastrous Champions Trophy campaign. In their desperate bid, the selectors have overlooked Kumble’s Test performance on South African pitches, which has been mediocre. So can the selectors guarantee that he will click in the One-Dayers when he failed to impress in Test matches?

One wonders how long will the selectors keep their faith on Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina despite their repeated failures. No doubt the two Uttar Pradesh boys are fine fielders, but if they can’t contribute to the team’s cause substantially during the crunch situations then they have to go.

Or, do the selectors think there are no new talents in the country? If so, why not give another chance to players like Robin Uttappa or Hemang Badani, who may not be match-winners but they will be as good or as bad as Kaif and Raina, who are any way the two underachievers in the team.

Last but not the least is why do the selectors need more time to assess Yuvraj Singh’s injury, which is pretty serious. Is it not a wise thing to give his replacement more time to adjust mentally by announcing the final, instead of waiting till the last minute?

However, the most frightening question the die-hard cricket fans would be asking when the likes of Kumble, Jaffer and Munaf Patel get picked to play in the final eleven is. Where will the Indian skipper Rahul Dravid hide them on the field?

All three are very slow movers on the field, who refuse to believe that diving stops are part and parcel of One-Day cricket. Dravid’s problem seems to have increased by leaps and bounds as he has to shield them from the free stroking South African batsmen.

One wonders whether it is worth watching the Indian team in action any more as the glorious past of the seventies and eighties seems to remain only in the past as the future of the team looks pretty bleak.