The fine line between experience and experiment

Peter Roebuck, writing in the Hindu, feels that phasing out the old guard is a difficult process, particularly in the case of the current Indian middle order. But there comes a time, he writes, when an “outfit impresses more on paper than on the field”, and tough decisions become imperative.

Sooner or later, though, no matter how finely it has been carried, the flame must be handed to another generation. If that time has not already past then it is fast approaching. Not that age is the only consideration, but it cannot entirely be ignored. Nor can the balance of the team. It is not sensible to allow a side to grow old together. A time is reached when such an outfit impresses more on paper than on the field.

When the five [India's seniors] finally exit, they should with dignity, informed in advance about their imminent sacking as a tribute to their long service, but not given extra opportunities because we want to be nice to them. They haven’t needed the Indian cricket establishment’s charity over the last decade, and they definitely don’t need its pity, writes Kunal Pradhan in the Indian Express.

Meanwhile, Makarand Waigankar, writing in the Hindu, thinks the BCCI selection committee’s decisions defy logic.

One would never know in Indian cricket why a cricketer of repute is dropped by one committee and then selected again by the new committee. It completely depends on the whims and fancies of the different selectors and not any governing principles. This has happened too frequently to make us believe that the selection committees do have any criteria or policies at all.