The whole of Kashmir was patient and understanding of Virat Kohli’s selection of the Xl in the first three One-dayers, knowing fully well that the first priority of the team was to ensure a series win, says a column in Hindustan Times, adding that after India did that with ease against a team which would probably be no match for even a Ranji side, they looked forward now to Rasool’s debut.
“That Kohli, the in-your-face captain, chose to ignore only Rasool and no one else on the bench has left them shocked and, one may assume, angry at one more example of India’s injustice to the Valley,” says the column, asking if Rasool was'nt good enough to find a place in the team against a side which had been steamrolled by India 4-0 or not good enough to be played in the final encounter, which India could not have lost by any stretch of imagination, given the sub-standard quality of the Zimbabwean team?
Kohli obviously did not think so given the fact that he felt insecure in disturbing his “bowling balance”, the reason he chose not to pick Rasool. Team selection is his prerogative.
“There are defenders of Kohli’s decision to let Rasool keep warming the bench. When players much superior to him have waited in the wings for years, why make Rasool an issue? Well, when you have rested a few key players, and picked rookies against a side you know the team could and should experiment, it defies cricketing logic to keep just one man from playing. Shouldn’t the same logic of not disturbing the “bowling balance” have been applied to the promising swing and seam bowler Mohit Sharma, who did play the last two matches?,” adds the column.
Meanwhile an article in Times Of India says that not giving Parvez Rasool a single game in the five-match series in Zimbabwe appears to defy both cricketing and symbolic logic. Purely on cricketing grounds, this series was a golden opportunity for India to test its bench strength in conditions quite different from home against a weak opposition. The team management seems to have realized this and played 14 of the 15-member squad.
“So why make an exception of Rasool? Going into the final match, India was leading 4-0. Even 5-0 was never in doubt. Playing Rasool would have allowed India to try out one more option in the build-up to the 2015 World Cup. It would also have given a player from Jammu & Kashmir an unprecedented India cap, the symbolic value of which could have been huge. Sadly, the men on the spot didn't seem to understand this and nobody higher up nudged them either,” says the TOI article, adding that by playing Rasool, who is by all accounts competent enough to hold his own against Zimbabwe, the Indian team could have brought joy to Kashmir and given the player confidence to get into the big league.