Railways to crack down on players missing trials

“All players will have to attend the trials and those who miss will face action. Having said that,only a few will be selected for the team and those who miss out can play for other teams,” he told Sportline. On being asked whether the punished players will also risk job termination,Yadav gave an example,saying: “We have acted against the erring players in the past too,when Laxmi Ratan Shukla and few of the Bengal players weren’t willing to play for us.” Shukla and his followers had to give up their jobs in order to play for Bengal.

‘Tough group’
Coach Abhay Sharma was more forthcoming on the matter. “We are in a tough group. We have to ensure that all the best players come and attend our trials. It’s bizarre to face good players in the opposition ranks,who are on Railways pay-rolls,” he said.

RSPB’s urgency this year,however,comes from the fact that Railways have been placed in a tough group for the coming domestic season that also features Tamil Nadu,Gujarat,Punjab and Orissa.

With the Railways team having a lot of long-serving seniors and the management contemplating a transition,it will be interesting to see how many players will make themselves available for selection. Among the few names Railways are hoping to absorb in their squad include Uttar Pradesh’s Shivakant Shukla,Gujarat’s Bhavik Thaker,Rajesh Bishnoi and Andhra’s leg spinner M Suresh. Shukla 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. But only Thaker attended the camp last season from this bunch.

The selectors will also have to tackle the sensitive issue of recalling ICL players like JP Yadav,Shreyas Khanolkar,TP Singh and Abbas Ali. All of them have been part of Railways’s Ranji Trophy winning squads.