India vs South Africa: We have limitations, says Sandeep Patil

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur with chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil after a selection committee meeting in New Delhi on Monday. (Source: PTI)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is famous to downplay crisis situations. National selectors, as a rule, too don’t reveal much. So it came as a surprise when chairman Sandeep Patil, with the BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur sitting right next to him, began the press conference on Monday by saying that he was “concerned” about the team’s performance in the series.

“We are concerned. Two selectors who were travelling with the team had a word with the team management and the captain. We had a detailed discussion with the captain,” Patil said when asked about India’s show in the series against South Africa. So far, the home team have won only once in five encounters against the Saffers.

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In the same breath, however, Patil then tried to downplay his own ‘concerns’. “It is not a worrying factor. Every time the Indian team does well, we feel good, every time it loses, we feel bad,” he added.

This curious self-contradiction would be a recurring theme of the Patil presser, which was held after the selectors picked the squads for the remaining two ODIs and the first two Tests.

He would mention that there were worries about the team composition and the incessant chopping and changing in the playing XI, but then would proceed to say that the selectors and the team management and captain MS Dhoni were on the same page.

One of the causes of those worries was India’s uncertain lower-middle order, particularly Ajinkya Rahane’s position in the team. In the last four months, the right-handed batman has, in the following order, batted two-down once, opened thrice, come at one-down twice, and played four-down once. The only places, one would surmise, he is left with is in the tail or on the bench. Well, he has been left out of the team in two ODIs and as many T20Is in this period. And just to highlight contrast further, Rahane has also captained the team in three one-dayers and two T20Is in said duration.

In the ongoing ODI series, he batted at No.3 in the first two matches, scored back to back half-centuries, and just when it looked like things were settling down and Dhoni was finally happy with Mumbaikar, he was dropped to No.6 in the Rajkot ODI. On a sluggish pitch, with asking rate nearly 10, Rahane could barely assert himself and was caught in the deep trying to pull Morne Morkel. He made four.

“We have discussed not only Ajinkya but other players also with the captain and the team management,” Patil said, when asked if the Rahane issue was discussed. “Me and my co-selectors have had a word with the director (Shastri) also… But this is always left to the team management and the captain. We discuss and we agree to a conclusion, and finally decide the combination of 15 players, but it is always left to them to pick the final XI and the batting and bowling order.

“We were worried about few things, and we hope they will be sorted out in future,” he added.

Even in the past, Patil has said that he has no say in picking the playing XI. In the aftermath of Rahane getting benched in Bangladesh, Patil was asked at a press conference if selectors, who accompany the team on tours, should have a say in picking the XI. He helplessly pointed towards Thakur, who by his side on that day as well, and said: “That you probably should ask him.”

On Monday, he was again talking about his limitations. “Our jurisdiction is to give the captain the team which not only the captain wants but the team which the selectors feel will do well, looking at the form of that particular player, looking at the slot for which he has been chosen, looking at the opposition… The final selection of 11 players has been left to the captain and the management,” Patil said.

“We have limitations. We have no complaints but we have limitations.”

Jadeja for Harbhajan

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of his two match-winning all-round performances against Tripura and Jharkhand in Ranji Trophy matches this season, Ravindra Jadeja was picked for the first two Test matches against South Africa.

The 26-year-old scored 149 runs at 74.50 and took 24 wickets at an impressive average of 8.25 this Ranji season.

While these wickets have come on a Rajkot track which has predominantly favoured spinners, the Saurashtra player seems to have got the nod keeping in mind the similar the nature of tracks that will be on offer for the four Tests against the Proteas. The big difference, though, will be the quality of the batsmen. As is evident from the T20 and ODI series so far, these tourists aren’t the kind who struggle against the turning ball.

Jadeja has always been prolific in home conditions. He has played five of his 12 Tests in India, and played a key role in India’s win over Australia at home two years ago. In the four Tests against the Aussies, he picked up 24 wickets, taking them at an average of 17.45. With India’s Test captain Virat Kohli preferring to play five bowlers, the selection panel felt Jadeja’s all-round abilities would also come in handy.

In the 16-member Test side Jadeja replaces off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. The 35-year-old, who had been out of the Test side for more than two years, made a comeback in Bangladesh in June and played the first Test of the Sri Lanka tour in August.

Meanwhile, leg-spinner Amit Mishra has retained his spot in the Test squad after his 15-wicket burst in three Tests against Sri Lanka recently. Off-spinner R Ashwin, who suffered a side strain in the first ODI in Kanpur, has also been included. Pacer Ishant Sharma will travel with the team for the first Test but wouldn’t be take field as he is undergoing a ban.