The performance of the youngsters in the 'A' tour is more than satisfying so far, with Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina all reaching the three figure score and India certainly now has a pool of players to rely on, says a report in Deccan Chronicle, adding that this brings us back to the debate of what is going to happen to the out of favour players including Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan. Harbhajan Singh has also lost out his place to R. Ashwin
“With no real cricket going on in the country and the Ranji Trophy being about two and a half months away, all these players have to find out a way to stay in touch with the game and impress the selectors. Staying fit is one thing and staying match fit is another thing. Gambhir has taken a good decision by deciding to play for Essex and the rest of the guys should also look for similar outings,” says the report, adding that most of the above players were dropped on the basis of their current form.
“The runs have dried up for Sehwag and Gambhir and Yuvraj looked terribly out of place in the IPL which obviously should not be the only tool to judge a player, but apparently that is what has happened. Harbhajan Singh is no longer the same bowler and Zaheer Khan has been plagued with injuries,” says the report.
Meanwhile according to a report in The DNA, skipper Dhoni spelt out the criteria for a tough tour of South Africa with another carefully chosen word — liability. “Age is not really a factor in cricket or any other sport. I think form and fitness is what matters,” Dhoni said when asked if he wants seniors in the team for such an important tour.
“If you are fit, performing well and most importantly, if you are not a liability to the team, you can make it. I don’t agree with the idea of having a younger side just for the sake of it. It doesn’t matter whether you are 40 or 45 or even a 32-year-old. Age is not really a factor in selections,” added the Indian skipper in the very next sentence.
However, Dhoni didn’t forget to single out young Virat Kohli for special praise for the way he led the team during the recent tour of Zimbabwe. “Virat has changed a lot in the last one year in every way. His thinking, his approach and even his batting has got better with the time. I think it is very important for an individual to be himself and that is his biggest strength,” Dhoni said.