RDX: Fly on the wall

Whenever one of these T20 specialists makes an ass of themselves, I feel a deep sense of satisfaction. It’s hard to express ones’ self, but to be brutally honest with you, I feel, finally there is some justice in the world. You can’t claim to be a cricketer by your exploits in the limited version alone. It is wrong on far too many counts.

To call it old school is being too simplistic. There are still players prepared to put the hard yards in, and do what it takes to be complete cricketers who can excel in all forms of the game.

The other day, Michael Holding made a telling comment when he said Keiron Pollard is not a cricketer. Out of curiosity, I’ve often stayed up late (with my Bournvita I might add) to watch the likes of Pollard play, and what they bring to the team.

The way I look at it, Pollard is in the team as a batting all-rounder; he bats too low for my liking, and often fails to play as an impact player. Even though it worked for the Mumbai Indians, saving him for the last 2-3 overs and sometimes even less, defies logic.

As a perceived match winner, Pollard, or for that matter a player like Yusuf Pathan should be prepared to counter-attack when the team is in strife. If you noticed, in yesterday’s game, when India was in strife, Ravendra Jadeja batted before Pathan. This is the same Jadeja who batted below Harbhajan not too long ago.

While Yusuf Pathan is known to counter attack against state teams, he is often found wanting in the internationals. Yesterday, once again, he left two short balls alone, never mind they were the last two balls of the 50th over.

While Pollard’s 3-27 may appear impressive on paper, it’s time the West Indies asked themselves about his role in the team. India too, must ask themselves some serious questions regarding Pathan who gets away bowling a few overs and batting low-down, and having no impact on games.

It’s high time the Indian selectors made a clear distinction between international performance and muscle showed in the IPL, Ranji, Dileep trophies.

Lastly, it may not be a bad ploy for the selectors to look beyond the present pool of players. Next I will speak about the role of specialists as opposed to bits and pieces all-rounders.

by RDX
This is the first in a series of posts by RDX, exclusively for Bored Cricket Crazy Indians.