Out of sight isn’t out of mind, says More

The bunch of 36 players, he said, wasn’t put together solely for the one-day tournaments in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe but was more of a ‘‘comprehensive pool of core players that coach Greg Chappell wanted to have a look at’’.

The selection committee, More said, had to make some hard choices keeping in mind the ‘36-man outer limit’. ‘‘There were some young players who didn’t quite perform in the last season and there were those who did really well. We are aware of the potential of those who were dropped but we can’t just ignore those who have done well.’’

Talking specifically about Rayudu and Dhawan, More said, ‘‘These two boys have not been left in the cold. They have a great future ahead of them. They certainly do feature in our long-term plans.’’

‘‘We have invested a lot in Rayudu. He is a player of the future.’’

Off-spinner Powar, More said, was considered a direct replacement for Harbhajan Singh and had not been ignored. ‘‘And Sairaj Bahutule is a direct replacement for Anil Kumble. After all he has taken 500 wickets in domestic cricket. You can’t ignore talent like that.’’

So why not call them to the camp? ‘‘If they are playing league cricket in England and doing well there, why disturb them?’’, More counter-argued.

He also said that Hemang Badani, a debatable inclusion, deserved to get another look-in because he’d done well in Australia and had only been kept out by injury.

The camp will also be attended by India under-22 players, who will bowl at the nets. ‘‘This will give Chappell a chance to have a look at the second string,’’ More said.

Yesterday was the selection committee’s first interaction with the new coach and Chappell seemed to have made a big impression. ‘‘He is a guru’’, More said. ‘He has some great plans for Indian cricket. I hope we are able to take full advantage of him while he is here.’’

‘‘He came into the meeting and asked us to give him 36 players because he didn’t know most of the boys. He clearly stated his requirements to us and was very concise in his requirements. Once that was done he excused himself from the meeting.’’

Since his arrival in India, Chappell has spent time with all the coaches at the NCA: Raghuram Bhat and Madan Lal (bowling), and Ashok Malhotra (batting) and Rajesh Kamat (fielding), along with the in-house trainer and physio.

SK Venkatesh, Chappell’s media liaison officer, said he’d also met Javagal Srinath who gave him a demo on the new cricket software and was scheduled to meet spin great Erapalli Prasanna.

THE FRESHERS

Niraj Patel: The 24-year-old left-hander from Gujarat averaged 51 in 1st class cricket last year. He scored two hundreds and four half-centuries. He was a member of India U-19 World Cup winning squad.

Y Venugopal Rao: Rao bats one-drop for Andhra Pradesh. He averaged 59.75 in last 1st class season. He scored an impressive 834 runs with three centuries and three half-centuries.He bowls part-time off-breaks too and has taken 32 wickets at 33.25.

Rajamani Jesuraj: The 22-year-old medium pacer has impressed in only his second season for Tamil Nadu. He took 19 wickets at an average of 15.78, including a best of 7/76. He got two five-fors last season.