Do selectors ever receive praise?
Partab Ramchand favours the Indian board's move to make the selector's post a paid one but says it still remains a thankless job
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Partab Ramchand favours the Indian board's move to make the selector's post a paid one but says it still remains a thankless job. He writes in his column on dreamcricket.com:
Do selectors ever receive praise? Oh, I suppose so in a grudging sort of way. But they are more remembered for their foibles rather than any bold choices or hunches that come off. Does anyone remember the selector who pushed 19-year-old Dilip Vengsarkar into the national squad on the basis of one dashing century against Bedi and Prasanna in the Irani Trophy game in 1975? Does anyone remember the selector who had the foresight to pick the relatively unknown Bedi, then only 20, on the basis of one good performance for the Board President's XI against West Indies in 1966? It was under the chairmanship of this much-maligned selector that both Chandrasekhar and Venkatraghavan were first given their India caps when they were still teenagers. Does anyone recall the selector who boldly gave the reigns of captaincy to the young Nawab of Pataudi, then all of 20 years of age, to lead the Board President's XI side against the visiting MCC in 1961? Does anyone recall the chairmen of the selection committees who picked the two most successful one-day teams in Indian cricket history - the 1983 World Cup and the 1985 World Championship of Cricket?
Nishi Narayanan is a staff writer at ESPNcricinfo