BCCI: Bored of Control for Cricket in India

Recently I logged into Cricinfo and saw a link that led to the squad chosen to play for India A against Australia A later this year. Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to check out the squad and see who all had been fortunate enough to get a chance to play for our A team.

The A team is, after all, just a small step away from the national squad, right? Um, well...at least that's what it's supposed to be.

Anyway, as I ran through the 15-member squad, I noticed a conspicuous absentee: Aakash Chopra.

The Delhi opener has had an excellent first-class season, not only helping Delhi to win the Ranji-Trophy, but also to emerge as the leading run-getter. Furthermore, his last opportunity in the Indian A team was against South Africa A where he scored a brilliant double-ton.

Now, this man, at the back of a peak season, wasn't even good enough to be in the 15-man India A squad? Let's forget the fact that Sehwag was bizarrely chosen ahead of him for the Indian test team—surely an Indian team probable should get a place in the Indian A team.

They say the bat should do the talking, but what can one do if the selectors are deaf?!

This, though, isn't the first nor solitary case in which the selectors of the BCCI have displayed irrational and bizarre decision-making. Dropping the Big Three from the ODI series seems to have been a move that even the media was aiming at.

Some said they've gone past their peak and the strain in the quick ODI format would prove too hard for the Golden Oldies. Others stressed the fact that they failed miserably in the preceding test series.

But let's examine the facts correctly. Other than Sehwag's 201* in the second test, no Indian batsman even scored a 100. Mendis had totally decimated every Indian batsman and granted, the Big Three were equally beaten. But to say they're at the end of their career, and actually drop them from the ODI squad...

Let's again turn to our much-beloved statistics. Sachin has scored 399 runs in 10 ODI matches with an average of 44.33 in 2008 alone. That's leaving aside all his career, decorated with records and awards. By merit of form itself, he deserves a place in the current ODI squad.

To cut a long, boring story short, decked with statistical data to make the selectors look like total idiots (the bloodthirsty journalists, too), I'll skip to the point here.

We have a population of 1.2 billion. We have the richest sports board in the world in the BCCI. We have great talent showing great promise and great players performing real well.

Why then can't the selectors just make the sensible choices and, taking a leaf out of the other boards' books, listen to the bat when it does the talking?