Journalism of Courage
A lot has happened,especially in the past ten days,since the time the five wise men sat down last month to pick the initial list of 30 for the upcoming World Twenty20 championships,to be played in the Caribbean from April 30. And the breakneck nature of the games shortest format suggests that more may happen by the time they eventually sit down,on March 26,to pick the final squad of 15.
The ICC rules stipulate the selectors can pick anyone from outside the initial list of 30 in the final squad,and if the IPL is deemed as the final form-guide,Murali Kartik and Saurabh Tiwary have made a strong case with the national selectors,even though they were not part of the original list.
The rules suggest that any country can name any player even from outside the initial list of 30 until the final squad is announced. The objective of the ICC is to get the best 15 from each country. The first list is demanded purely for branding and merchandising requirements. Only if the team wants to replace a member of the final squad do they have to write for approval, an ICC spokesperson confirmed to The Indian Express.
Left-arm strangler
Left-arm spinner Kartik has been by far the best bowler on view so far,having bowled 19 overs in five games for four wickets at an economy rate of just 5.57 runs. None of the four spinners Harbhajan Singh (7.14),Amit Mishra (7.66),Pragyan Ohja (7.12) or R Ashwin (7.50) who are in the initial list come close. Interestingly,Kartik has bowled both in the powerplays and in the death,and still come out good.
Chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikanth recenly spoke about Jacques Kallis and Adam Gilchrist proving age was just a number in T20. Kartik,33,is doing much the same,and over the last few years,has been one of the most sought after foreign professionals among the English counties.
Kartik has been good enough to pay international cricket for a long time now. The selectors have allowed people to walk all over him,that shouldnt happen, says Bishan Singh Bedi.
Maninder Singh feels Kartik is bowling the best hes ever seen. Hes a spinner for all formats,not just T20 and if theres a reward for performance,then the selectors have been reminded again that they should give Kartik his due, he says.
Tiwary makes a case
Also making waves is Jharkhands Saurabh Tiwary,who represents the Mumbai Indians and presently stands fifth in the list of run-getters having scored 169 runs in four games at a strike rate of 146.95. With two consecutive half-centuries,he is only behind Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag among Indian players on the list of 30. Having made the No 4 slot his own,he has relegated big-buck signings such as Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard further down the batting order.
It feels good when a captain shows confidence in your abilities and sends you ahead of the senior players, he says. The IPL is a good platform for because if you score runs here then everybody knows that you are a good cricketer.
… and Tendulkar?
Finally,how much should be read into Sunil Gavaskars recent suggestion that Sachin Tendulkar come out of his self-imposed exile from T20 internationals?
Tendulkar had made himself unavailable for the first two editions of the World T20 as he felt the squad was well-settled and that he would merely be disturbing the combination. He reiterated his stance on Tuesday. I am not playing the World Twenty20. I have not played international T20 since 2007 and I dont think it should become an issue now.
His so-far stunning performance in this years edition,however,and commanding run of form across formats over the last two seasons,make this an extremely tempting proposition as Gavaskar has suggested.
However,BCCIs chief administrative officer Prof Ratnakar Shetty says,As far as Sachin Tendulkar is concerned,hes made himself unavailable for T20 internationals and therefore theres no scope to further this.
