Youngsters failed to consolidate but did enough to avoid the axe

It is the biggest malaise to haunt Indian cricket over the years. You let a player know that his position in the team is secure and he slackens. Conversely if you pick a player and drop him soon after he fails, his confidence is shattered and a potentially good young cricketer is wasted. The Australians have adopted a universally applicable `rotation policy' where players are selected and rested, often unrelated to performances. This works for a team with an embarrassment of riches in the talent department. This clearly is not the situation in India.

In countries like England, Australia and South Africa, being a professional cricketer affords you a comfortable lifestyle. It is not a case where you have to make it big on the international stage or perish. In the subcontinent however, with almost no recognised professional set up, the pressures to play at the highest level are immense. The profusion of one-dayers has only served to heighten this aspect. A player going on a tour like the recently concluded Coca-Cola Cup in Sri Lanka will walk away with a far bigger pay packet than the average Ranji Trophy cricketer can expect to make in more than a year. Even if the cricketer did not actually play for India in any games on the tour, this would tend to apply.

With that being the situation, the first thing on a player's mind would be retention of place in the touring party. Cricketing excellence necessarily takes a back seat. Whether this is a good thing or not can be debated. But that it is true few will doubt. Even the recent Coca-Cola Cup raised its share of cruel jokes. When VVS Laxman was under fire for a string of low scores he made 87 not out and secured his place in the side. When people were screaming hoarse about how overrated Yuvraj Singh was, he played a match winning knock of 98 not out. And finally there was the case of that man from Delhi, Virender Shewag who blasted New Zealand and critics alike with a 70- ball hundred. Just when you think a player should be dropped... was the refrain.

To understand this better however, it is worth looking at the approach the Pakistanis adopt when it comes to youngsters. One can never forget the comment the wily fox Javed Miandad made as coach during the Asia Cup in Dhaka in May 2000. When it came to Imran Nazir and Shahid Afridi he told them: play as your heart dictates; if you feel like clobbering the ball, do so and if it's defence you prefer then do that. When dealing with Yousuf Youhana and Abdur Razzaq, his response was wholly different. There's no need to tell them anything he said. Just let them go out there and play, they know what to do, he added. At the end of the day, it is this specialised and individual treatment that is the need of the hour with any team from the subcontinent.

In the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Hemang Badani was given an extended run in the middle order. The southpaw from Tamil Nadu was rated highly by most and seemed to possess a good approach to the game. However, in less than ideal batting conditions Badani struggled, making just 78 runs from six innings, including a best of 35 not out. To make matters worse, Badani scored at the poor strike rate of 59.54, something totally unacceptable in the shorter version of the game. Everyone who watches Badani bat, is convinced that he is a good young cricketer and rightly so. He possesses a cool temperament and a sensible approach, and there is a case to persist with him, perhaps in the manner of Razzaq or Youhana, now certainties in any Pakistan side.

Virender Shewag, the toast of the whole nation for his explosive century against New Zealand, averaged a mere 25.14 in the series. While one cannot take anything away from Shewag for the innings he played, his scores in the other six matches of the series speak of inconsistency - 0, 12, 33, 27, 0 and 4 - a very bad run of form, both in the middle order and while opening the innings. While Shewag managed to get off to starts on two occasions, he failed to capitalise and make even a half century. To treat him in the same manner as Badani would be a mistake. A completely different cricketer he is, and a different approach is called for.

Yuvraj Singh's ability has never been in doubt. His temperament however has always been regarded as a bit suspect. However, Yuvraj managed to overcome this limitation with a match winning unbeaten 98 against Sri Lanka. With the ball in hand too, Yuvraj proved to be a handy customer, snaring eight wickets in the tourney. His efforts in the Coca-Cola Cup would have to be regarded an acceptable contribution and one could say that he has done enough to keep his place in the side.

Reetinder Singh Sodhi, earmarked for bigger things as India's utility cricketer failed to deliver with both bat and ball. He contributed just 83 runs from five innings with the willow. With the ball in hand, one wicket at an average of 123 was the result from 23 overs delivered. Of all the newcomers to the Indian team, Sodhi was perhaps the one person who let his skipper down.

To say the youngsters in the side grabbed the opportunity created by Tendulkar's absence would be inaccurate. However, there's no running away from the fact that almost all of them, in their own inimitable ways managed to do just enough to avoid the axe.