Railways struggle to find players

The reason: they had named players,who,after doing well for their respective associations last season,have shown reluctance to appear for their employers. And this has severely hampered the team’s build-up to the T20 tournament. Railways were keen to get Bhavik Thaker,Rajesh Bishnoi,Shivakant Shukla and M Suresh in their squad,after their stellar performances during the last season.

Fearing absentees,the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) had taken a firm stance,warning players who miss the trials of termination. But nothing seems to have worked as all the above players missed the trials and now have virtually ruled themselves out of selection. “We are short by few players because they are not here,” a source close to the team said.

The selectors and the team management could not be reached.

Thaker,who has been named Gujarat’s vice-captain for the upcoming T20 tournament,has quietly refused. “I will play for Gujarat. I have played for so many years here,how can I turn my back on them when they need me,” he told Sportline.

Railways’ keenness to acquire these players is understood. Shukla had scored 589 runs,including two centuries,in the last season for Uttar Pradesh,while Bhavik Thaker amassed 830 runs with a healthy average of 75.45 and M Suresh had 32 wickets to his name from nine matches.

Also,Railways have been tagged along with reigning Ranji champions Mumbai,Gujarat,Tamil Nadu,Orissa,Hyderabad,Himachal and Punjab for the coming season. The fear of relegation is also playing on their minds.

“One of the reasons may be the way we played last season. I play for Western Railways whenever they ask me to,so nobody can tell me I am doing anything wrong,” Thaker said.

Thaker may have decided to play for Gujarat,but like the others,he may be forced out should the RSPB decide to act tough on their threat. But at this moment,he can’t decide which route to take. “The whole issue is a bit complicated and the procedure can be lengthy too. Right now I cannot take a call on resigning or holding to my job. Let’s see how things pan out.”

Incidentally,the selectors didn’t pick Thaker last time after he pledged to play for the coming season. “I didn’t promise anything. I just said that we’d decide it later. The selectors were very understanding about my predicament,” he added.