Kanitkar - home boy squeaks into probables list

When a school team is practising, there are inevitably a couple of extra players in the squad. In all likelihood, one is the chap who owns the kit. The other is the one who hangs around the ground all the time. This is all very well when it comes to lazy school cricket played on Sunday afternoons. But when you are talking about picking a national team for a one-day international tournament, surely the standards need to be a little more sensible.

Apparently Chandu Borde and company do not think so. The selection of a group of 25 probables for the forthcoming Asia Cup in Dhaka has thrown up a shocker. Though not quite new, this is a selection that defies explanation. Every time an Indian team is selected, Hrishikesh Hemant Kanitkar seems to worm his way in. Every single time, the press has gone up in arms. Adventurous reporters even linked Kanitkar's inclusion directly to Sachin Tendulkar's captaincy. Hold on. Tendulkar isn't even captain anymore.

If you took a look at Kanitkar's first class average in India this year you would find it is a more than healthy 99.00. Look a little closer. He is no Don Bradman. The fact is that he played just one first class match at home in the 1999-2000 season. This was for the Board President's XI against New Zealand in October 1999.

His showing in Australia led many to pity him. Well out of his depth, Kanitkar struggled to put up even a half decent showing. His first class average of under 21 in four games is hardly the stuff that inspires selection.

The preparatory camp for the Asia Cup to be played in Dhaka will be conducted in Pune between the 15th and 24th of May. That's the only possible thing that could have gone in Kanitkar's favour. Home ground advantage. This means that the selectors have picked him with the sole idea of bowling in the nets. This keeps out a genuine probable. One wonders how Kanitkar himself feels about all this. Sheepish, would be my best guess.