This was a tour which intended to separate the men from the boys, to see who could cut it in the big league. And if the assessment of the India ‘A’ coach Sandeep Patil is anything to go by, there are quite a few good men emerging from the ongoing England trip. With one more three-dayer to go, the tour in terms of team results has seen moderate success with the team winning two of three one-dayers and drawing all six first-class matches. At the start of the tour, the India slots were seen to be bothering the tourists, a fact then acknowledged by Patil, who criticised the team for being ‘obsessed with impressing the selectors’. But as the tour winds to a close the coach is more relaxed, ‘‘The boys have settled down’’, he told The Indian Express on a rare off day, ‘‘ all the frontline batsmen are running into form’’. Patil’s optimism is backed by the fact that Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir and Shib Sundar Das have certainly not harmed their chances of opening for India in the Tests against New Zealand and Australia later in the year (see stats). While Parthiv Patel’s promotion has had moderate success, another young middle-order hope, Ambati Rayudu, has also managed to impress.Vice-captain Hemang Badani’s success in the one-dayers and skipper Das’s in first-class matches has also, perhaps ironically, justified the decision to some extent to have two skippers on the tour. However, the bowlers have been disappointing, with the young bunch struggling to bowl out sides twice in a first-class match. What’s more, there has been just one bowler with a five-wicket haul: Delhi’s new-ball bowler Amit Bhandari (two hauls). But Patil is not unduly worried. ‘‘Forcing a win in a three-dayer is a bit difficult, it boils down to declarations. And the wickets have been very flat. Why don’t you look at it this way, if our bowlers have struggled so has the opposition.’’ In fact adds Patil, it is to the ‘bowler’s credit that they managed to get something out of these tracks’. While claiming that the South Africa match has been ‘the’ match of the tour , Patil says he has not been disappointed with the quality of opposition on offer. Champion county side Surrey, for instance had rested all their top players and other counties too have played their second team players. ‘‘Apart from maybe Surrey, the other sides have been decent. “As a coach I could not have asked for anything more,’’ he says. But ask Patil to name one outstanding performer and he is at his diplomatic best. ‘‘There have been couple of outstanding performances, but I do not want to pinpoint any particular player. All the 16 have been consistent and that’s the most important aspect of the tour.’’ Anyway, says Patil, it is not his but the National panel of selectors’ job to evaluate gains from the tour. ‘‘We have done our job fairly well.’’
