NEW DELHI, SEPT 6: Delhi cricket never had it so good in recent years: quantity-wise. Within a few years, the number of players from the capital that have made it to either the national or India A teams have been on the increase.For almost a decade since Manoj Prabhakar made his debut against England in 1984-85, the only other Delhi player to have represented the country was Ajay Sharma, who played in one Test and 31 One-dayers (between 1988-93).Rahul Sanghvi, Nikhil Chopra, Robin Singh Jr and Ashish Nehra all came into national reckoning but the last two named played just one Test each. And now, Amit Bhandari joins the list after being named in the national side to tour Toronto for a One-day series against the West Indies next week. Mithun Manhas, the stylish middle-order batsman from Delhi who was so promising as a 19-year-old but failed to live up to expectations when given the opportunity, has been included in the India A team along with team-mates Rahul Sanghvi and Virender Sehwag for the tourto Los Angeles. Sehwag, of course, was among the probables for this summer's World Cup.Twenty-one-year-old Bhandari has been attracting the attention of the national selectors with his aggressive approach ever since he represented the country in the World Youth Cup in South Africa couple of years ago. India junior team coach K Srikkanth was impressed by Bhandari's aggressive bowling.Virender Sehwag is another cricketer whose exploits with the bat in his Ranji debut season last year earned him a place among the World Cup probables. The Najafgarh cricketer, who learnt his initial game at the Vikaspuri government school ground, is a stockily-built middle-order batsman best suited for the One-day games. A hard-hitting batsman and a useful off-spinner, Sehwag (a student of Jamia Millia Islamia University) is a player to watch. Like Bhandari, he made a good impression in the World Youth Cup in South Africa with his all-round performance.The inclusions of Bhandari and Sehwag do not come as surprises forthose who have been following the capital's cricket scene closely. But Manhas' choice for India A is a surprise. Not that the youngster does not deserve it but he has not been among runs in recent times despite numerous chances.The way he began his career in under-19 had given high hopes and he was even included in India under-19 team that toured Sri Lanka two seasons ago. He struck three centuries in four matches in Cooch Behar in 1996 when he scored 174 against Haryana, 91 against his old state Jammu and Kashmir, 101 and 134 not out against Himachal. To boot, he had a hat-trick with his gentle medium pace against J&K.But in his three years of Ranji Trophy, Manhas is yet to fulfill the potential he showed as an under-19 cricketer. His lack of form forced the state selectors to drop him from a few games last season.``Delhi players must perform first before I can speak for them at the national level. Performance is what will count for selection,'' Madan Lal had commented when he was appointed nationalselector from North Zone.Indeed, most of the Delhi players who have made it to the national teams in the last few years owe it to Madan Lal. ``We (selectors) can only recommend their names. It is for them to perform during matches and cement their places in the team,'' Madan Lal says.
