Former India cricketer Venkatesh Prasad is unhappy with the Indian selectors’ decision to rest out-of-form players instead of dropping them. He argued that even big players like Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, and Yuvraj Singh were all dropped during their rough patch. Prasad expressed that the selectors cannot select players on reputation when there is an abundance of talent in the country.
The BCCI recently announced the Indian squad for the ODI series against West Indies. Senior players, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who have not been in the best of forms have been rested for the series. They did not have a great Indian Premier League 2022 season. The duo also failed to make an impact in the recently concluded series against England.
Taking to his social media handle, Venkatesh Prasad took a dig at the Indian selectors for resting the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. He tweeted,
“There was a time when you were out of form, you would be dropped irrespective of reputation. Sourav, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, and Bhajji all have been dropped when not in form. They have went back to domestic cricket, scored runs and staged a comeback.”
#TeamIndia ODI squad:
Shikhar Dhawan (C), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Arshdeep Singh— BCCI (@BCCI) July 6, 2022
Yardsticks seem to have changed drastically: Venkatesh Prasad
Venkatesh Prasad further expressed that the yardsticks to select a player have drastically changed from the old times. He added that India has an abundance of talent, and hence players should not play on reputation. In his tweets, Venkatesh Prasad also cited the example of Anil Kumble, who had to sit out on various occasions.
“The yardsticks seem to have changed drastically now, where there is rest for being out of form. This is no way for progress. There is so much talent in the country and cannot play on reputation. One of India’s greatest match-winner, Anil Kumble sat out on so many occasions, need action’s for the larger good,” Prasad tweeted.
Changed drastically now, where there is rest for being out of form. This is no way for progress. There is so much talent in the country and cannot play on reputation. One of India’s greatest match-winner, Anil Kumble sat out on so many ocassions, need action’s for the larger good
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) July 10, 2022
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