Continue with youth policy but make it more consistent

It's time for some serious soul searching. For the captain and the coach. For the five member selection committee. And for the Board of Control for Cricket in India office bearers. The Indian debacle `Down Under' is difficult to fathom and even more difficult to digest.

After all, it is not like in the good old days when the Indian team were dismissed as `dull dogs' and `no competition'. When even before the series commenced, everyone - the players, officials and the fans - had already reconciled themselves to the fact that the side would be drubbed. In the past three decades, thanks to the Gavaskar-Kapil Dev-Tendulkar trio, the scenario has been very different. The Indian team's record is much better, they have won matches and even rubbers abroad and even when they have lost, they have gone down fighting.

But the continuing humiliation the team has had to endure in Australia has left the average cricket fan shaking his head in disbelief. As if the 3-0 thrashing in the Test series was not bad enough, now comes the repeated reverses in the shorter version of the game. Is this the side which has in its ranks the world's best batsman in Tendulkar? And two others in Dravid and Ganguly who are close to the top in the world ratings? The side has two skilful new ball bowlers in Srinath and Prasad who were expected to make full use of the bouncier, faster wickets `Down Under'. And what about the `ten wicket man' Anil Kumble who was to have relished his duels with Shane Warne?

It is true that the Indians have found themselves woefully out of depth in Australia, both in Tests and the one day game. More than the failure of the established stars, the fact that the youngsters, who were given a glorious opportunity to adapt themselves and gain regular places in the side, have come a cropper is a matter of serious concern. There is nothing wrong per se in adopting a policy to blood youth. In the long run as we have seen so often, such a progressive outlook can benefit Indian cricket in the long run.

Let us turn the clock back 30 years. Vijay Merchant had just taken over as chairman of the selection committee and made his plans clear - he was going to encourage youth. In the twin series against New Zealand and Australia, eight new caps were given to Ajit Pai, Ashok Mankad, Chetan Chauhan, Eknath Solkar, Ambar Roy, Ashok Gandotra, Gundappa Viswanath and Mohinder Amarnath, even as established players like Chandu Borde, Dilip Sardesai, Abid Ali, ML Jaisimha, Hanumant Singh and Rusi Surti were discarded. The series against New Zealand was virtually lost and the Indians were beaten by three matches to one by Australia. Merchant was hauled over the coals. The cynics said he had carried his policy of encouraging youth too far. Merchant's retort was that his faith in his policy was unshaken. He continued his policy while selecting the Indian teams for the tours of West Indies and England in 1971. More young players were selected, including a certain Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, most of the players picked earlier were retained and many established stars were rejected. The result? India achieved a double triumph during that memorable `India rubber year' with victories both in West Indies and England.

Interestingly enough, Borde, who was one of the `victims' of Merchant's far sighted policy is now the selection committee chairman. Taking a leaf out of Merchant's book, he is now inclined to adopt the policy of encouraging youth. Hopefully, like in Merchant's case, if this policy is not meeting with instant success, one can only hope the move is crowned with success in the long run. This plan of action has resulted in one very prominent `victim.' Mohd Azharuddin has been sidelined and a lot has been said and written about how much help he could have offered to the beleaguered Indian batting, if he had been selected. To be candid, going by his record in the last one year and his record in Australia eight years ago, one has to express doubts if the former Indian captain, at 37, would have successfully tackled McGrath, Fleming and Brett Lee on the kind of wickets the Indians have come across. The other question mark concerns Ajay Jadeja. The one day specialist, if fully fit, might have been of some help in the limited overs game. But there have been doubts over his fitness and frankly a half fit Jadeja just could not have been a sort of blood transfusion for the harried Indians.

Frankly, I feel the policy of encouraging youth should continue. As I have pointed out, it is generally a far sighted policy with long term benefits. But then a certain consistency should be maintained. The case of Sameer Dighe is a case in point. Picking a new player at 31 is certainly at variance with this policy, especially when there are talented young wicketkeepers around. Fortunately the India A tours and the Under-19 team have thrown up a lot of talent. Many players currently in the senior team have made the transition from the junior ranks. Let us not be too harsh and premature in our judgements on them. They should be given enough opportunities before they are discarded. After all, if one examines the record closely, it will be seen that it is the shortcomings of the established stars more than the failures of the youngsters that have led to the current sorry situation the Indian team finds itself in Australia.