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[Sahir]

Wicketkeeper-batsman Deep Dasgupta has been named skipper of the 15-member Bengal cricket squad for the Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup in Hyderabad.

The squad includes former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

The team, which would leave for Hyderabad on Sunday, was picked by the four-member selection committee which includes former national selector Pranab Roy.

Ganguly, who is trying to get back into the Indian team and had earlier expressed his desire to play for the state side, would be joining the team on Monday in Hyderabad, CAB sources said.

The left-hander had been offered the captaincy but he preferred to play under Dasgupta who led Bengal to the Ranji Trophy final last season.

The team includes Rohan Gavaskar and left-arm spinner Amit Banerjee is the only new face in the squad.

Bengal would open its campaign against Wasim Jafar-led Mumbai on September 6.

Squad: Deep Dasgupta (captain), Sourav Ganguly, Arindam Das, Rohan Gavaskar, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manoj Tewari, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Sourashis Lahiri, Shib Shankar Paul, Ranadeb Bose, Sanjib Sanyal, Kamal Hasan Mondal, Subhojit Pal, Ashok Dinda, Amit Banerjee.

http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2006/aug/30gang.htm

[Sahir]

Jaffer to lead Mumbai colts

Opener Wasim Jaffer will lead Mumbai colts in the Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup invitation cricket tournament, to be held at Hyderabad from September 6.

The squad: Wasim Jaffer (capt.), Sahil Kukreja, Ashok Kadam, Ajinkya Rane, Bhavin Thakkar, Rohit Sharma, Prashant Naik, Hiken Shah, Abhijit Shetye (wk), Rajesh Verma, Kshemal Waingankar, Moondeep Mungela, Avishkar Salvi, Iqbal Abdulla, Bhavesh Patel.

Manager: Umesh Kulkarni; Coach: Praveen Amre.

http://in.rediff.com/cricket/2006/aug/28colts.htm

[ramshorns]

Laxman to lead



V.V.S. Laxman will lead the Hyderabad seniors team for the all-India Coromandel King Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup cricket tournament to be held here from Sept. 2 to 20. All the players are requested to report at Rajiv *hi International Stadium (Uppal) from August 28. The Combined Districts team for the Moin ud Dowla tournament was also announced.

The teams:

Seniors: V.V.S. Laxman (capt.), Sashank Nag, T. Suman, Anirudh Singh, N. Arjun Yadav, A.T. Rayudu, Ibrahim Khaleel (wk), P. Pragyan Ojha, P. Kaushik Reddy, N.P. Singh, P. Indrasekhar Reddy, P.S.S. Bharath, Prithvi Reddy, Hassan, S.M. Shoaib. Coach: Vivek Jaisimha. Assistant Coach: Kanwaljeet Singh.

Combined Districts: Mukhtar Ali (capt.), Laxma Reddy, Bharat Chandra, Naren Krishna, Sarvesh Kumar, Naresh, Mukesh, Kareemuddin, Akshath Reddy, Moinuddin, Venu Madhav, Turab Ali, Adilabad, Kalyan Rao and Arjun. Coach: S. Vishnuvardhan.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/27/stories/2006082712221800.htm
 

[Libran]

It is for the same Moin ud Dowla cup that Roger biny rushed in from Singapore and ensured that Stuart Binny is part of the K'taka squad....

And the other lousy inclusion is Udit Patel s/o Brijesh Patel. Look thru' his career performance to date and you will realize the amount of favoritism that works

[Sahir]

It is for the same Moin ud Dowla cup that Roger biny rushed in from Singapore and ensured that Stuart Binny is part of the K'taka squad....

And the other lousy inclusion is Udit Patel s/o Brijesh Patel. Look thru' his career performance to date and you will realize the amount of favoritism that works

Udit Patel was also awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship several years ago to go to Australia.  The scholarship is given to the three brightest young prospects in the country.  Back then he was classified as ann allrounder and is currently batting at number 11 in first-class cricket.  His performance in first-class and List A cricket has been pathetic, let alone pushing for a spot in the national side (what you would expect of someone awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship).

[Libran]

It is for the same Moin ud Dowla cup that Roger biny rushed in from Singapore and ensured that Stuart Binny is part of the K'taka squad....

And the other lousy inclusion is Udit Patel s/o Brijesh Patel. Look thru' his career performance to date and you will realize the amount of favoritism that works

Udit Patel was also awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship several years ago to go to Australia.  The scholarship is given to the three brightest young prospects in the country.  Back then he was classified as ann allrounder and is currently batting at number 11 in first-class cricket.  His performance in first-class and List A cricket has been pathetic, let alone pushing for a spot in the national side (what you would expect of someone awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship).

Andif i am right, the other guy who accompanied him was Rohan Gavsakar...or was that earlier.

And incidentally, because of Udit Patel, a promising offie like Dharmichand quit in disgust. Went off to Singapore and is now coaching there ( at the ripe old age of 26  )

[ThankYouChappel]

Great news for SG. Congratulations to him and his supporters.

[CLR James]

The fc stats of the two youngsters in question:

Allrounder Udit Patel:

Batting and fielding averages
class    mat    inns    no    runs    hs    ave    bf    sr    100    50    ct    st
First-class     14     17     8     86     19     9.55     161     53.41     0     0     2     0
List A     10     3     2     14     14     14.00     21     66.66     0     0     0     0

 Bowling averages
class    mat    balls    runs    wkts    bbi    bbm    ave    econ    sr    4    5    10
First-class     14     2518     1364     34     4/38          40.11     3.25     74.05     4     0     0
List A     10     332     294     6     2/33     2/33     49.00     5.31     55.33     0     0     0


And Stuart Binny:

 Batting and fielding averages
class    mat    inns    no    runs    hs    ave    bf    sr    100    50    ct    st
First-class     15     24     1     452     54     19.65     637     70.95     0     1     10     0
List A     18     15     4     208     74     18.90     241     86.30     0     1     7     0

 Bowling averages
class    mat    balls    runs    wkts    bbi    bbm    ave    econ    sr    4    5    10
First-class     15     618     331     8     1/10          41.37     3.21     77.25     0     0     0
List A     18     474     404     10     4/29     4/29     40.40     5.11     47.40     1     0     0


Nepotism, regionalism, narrow sectarianism. This has been the story of Indian cricket so far.

[Sahir]

It is for the same Moin ud Dowla cup that Roger biny rushed in from Singapore and ensured that Stuart Binny is part of the K'taka squad....

And the other lousy inclusion is Udit Patel s/o Brijesh Patel. Look thru' his career performance to date and you will realize the amount of favoritism that works

Udit Patel was also awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship several years ago to go to Australia.  The scholarship is given to the three brightest young prospects in the country.  Back then he was classified as ann allrounder and is currently batting at number 11 in first-class cricket.  His performance in first-class and List A cricket has been pathetic, let alone pushing for a spot in the national side (what you would expect of someone awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship).

Andif i am right, the other guy who accompanied him was Rohan Gavsakar...or was that earlier.

And incidentally, because of Udit Patel, a promising offie like Dharmichand quit in disgust. Went off to Singapore and is now coaching there ( at the ripe old age of 26  )

Previous Broder-Gavaskar scholarship recipients:

2000
Mohammad Kaif - batsman (7 Tests, 87 ODIs)
Sridaran Sriram - batsman (8 ODIs)
Shiv Sunder Das - batsman (23 Tests, 4 ODIs)

2001
Deepak Chougule - batsman
Vinayak Mane - all-rounder
Parthiv Patel - wicket-keeper (19 Tests, 14 ODIs)

2002
Lakshmipathy Balaji - fast-bowler (8 Tests, 28 ODIs)
Gautam Gambir - batsman (8 Tests, 5 ODIs)
Thilak Naidu - wicket-keeper/batsman

2003
Raiphi Vincent Gomez - all-rounder
Udit Brijesh Patel - off-spinner
Siddharth Trivedi - fast-bowler

2004
Shikhar Dhawan - batsman
Suresh Raina - all-rounder
Yalaka Venugopala Rao - batsman

[Sahir]

And the latest picked:

Mumbai's Kshemal Vaingankar, a right-arm pace bowler, Karnataka's Gaurav Dhiman, a right-hand opener, and Vadodara wicket keeper Pinal Shah have been picked by an Indian cricket board committee headed by Gavaskar.

[justforkix]

Great news for SG. Congratulations to him and his supporters.

And my condolences to you and GC 

[toney]

It is for the same Moin ud Dowla cup that Roger biny rushed in from Singapore and ensured that Stuart Binny is part of the K'taka squad....

And the other lousy inclusion is Udit Patel s/o Brijesh Patel. Look thru' his career performance to date and you will realize the amount of favoritism that works

Udit Patel was also awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship several years ago to go to Australia.  The scholarship is given to the three brightest young prospects in the country.  Back then he was classified as ann allrounder and is currently batting at number 11 in first-class cricket.  His performance in first-class and List A cricket has been pathetic, let alone pushing for a spot in the national side (what you would expect of someone awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship).

Was he chosen under the reservation category?

[Sahir]

It is for the same Moin ud Dowla cup that Roger biny rushed in from Singapore and ensured that Stuart Binny is part of the K'taka squad....

And the other lousy inclusion is Udit Patel s/o Brijesh Patel. Look thru' his career performance to date and you will realize the amount of favoritism that works

Udit Patel was also awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship several years ago to go to Australia.  The scholarship is given to the three brightest young prospects in the country.  Back then he was classified as ann allrounder and is currently batting at number 11 in first-class cricket.  His performance in first-class and List A cricket has been pathetic, let alone pushing for a spot in the national side (what you would expect of someone awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship).

Was he chosen under the reservation category?

Would that be the reservation for the son of the chief selector?

[dextrous]

It is for the same Moin ud Dowla cup that Roger biny rushed in from Singapore and ensured that Stuart Binny is part of the K'taka squad....

And the other lousy inclusion is Udit Patel s/o Brijesh Patel. Look thru' his career performance to date and you will realize the amount of favoritism that works

Udit Patel was also awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship several years ago to go to Australia.  The scholarship is given to the three brightest young prospects in the country.  Back then he was classified as ann allrounder and is currently batting at number 11 in first-class cricket.  His performance in first-class and List A cricket has been pathetic, let alone pushing for a spot in the national side (what you would expect of someone awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship).

Was he chosen under the reservation category?

I'm guessing he was selected in the rich-selecting-rich or nepotism category, more ways in which the rich and the worthy ensure that their sons and daughters are able to buy their way to glory.

[RicePlateReddy]

Would that be the reservation for the son of the chief selector?

In most competitive exams in India (e.g. IIT - JEE), the administrative chairs (e.g. Campus chairs) have a convention that they step down if a close relative is taking the exam, so there is no accusation of cheating or conflict of interest.

I am baffled why a similar stance cannot be adopted for cricket administration. If your son is in the reckoning and you are a selector or power administrator, you step down. If you are greedy enough to want to stay, ask your son to go and coach in Singapore instead.

Rohan Gavaskar was the biggest fraud perpetuated on us, the Indian cricket public, since Maharaja Vizianagram played ages ago by outright buying his way into the team.

[dextrous]

Would that be the reservation for the son of the chief selector?

In most competitive exams in India (e.g. IIT - JEE), the administrative chairs (e.g. Campus chairs) have a convention that they step down if a close relative is taking the exam, so there is no accusation of cheating or conflict of interest.

I am baffled why a similar stance cannot be adopted for cricket administration. If your son is in the reckoning and you are a selector or power administrator, you step down. If you are greedy enough to want to stay, ask your son to go and coach in Singapore instead.

Rohan Gavaskar was the biggest fraud perpetuated on us, the Indian cricket public, since Maharaja Vizianagram played ages ago by outright buying his way into the team.

Really? Why? What is so bad about his FC averages?

[RicePlateReddy]

Really? Why? What is so bad about his FC averages?

Nothing. Just that there were at least about 10 players with signifcantly better FC stats (all aspects) than him who weren't at the end of their playing days when he made his debut. I can count 3 alone from the TN team.

[justforkix]

In most competitive exams in India (e.g. IIT - JEE), the administrative chairs (e.g. Campus chairs) have a convention that they step down if a close relative is taking the exam, so there is no accusation of cheating or conflict of interest.

I am baffled why a similar stance cannot be adopted for cricket administration. If your son is in the reckoning and you are a selector or power administrator, you step down. If you are greedy enough to want to stay, ask your son to go and coach in Singapore instead.

K.O.P. - you expect BCCI to work like IITs  - please wake up 

[justforkix]

Nothing. Just that there were at least about 10 players with signifcantly better FC stats (all aspects) than him who weren't at the end of their playing days when he made his debut. I can count 3 alone from the TN team.

K.O.P. - Didn't you know - TN has not been part of India for a looong time

[dextrous]

Really? Why? What is so bad about his FC averages?

Nothing. Just that there were at least about 10 players with signifcantly better FC stats (all aspects) than him who weren't at the end of their playing days when he made his debut. I can count 3 alone from the TN team.

Since when have Indian teams been selected based on FC averages? In any case, there was nothing shocking about Rohan's selection to me -- he had a decent average, if he improved his bowling some more, could've become a handy all-rounder. Are there people with better averages? Of course, even from my cricketing minnow state!

[RicePlateReddy]

In most competitive exams in India (e.g. IIT - JEE), the administrative chairs (e.g. Campus chairs) have a convention that they step down if a close relative is taking the exam, so there is no accusation of cheating or conflict of interest.

I am baffled why a similar stance cannot be adopted for cricket administration. If your son is in the reckoning and you are a selector or power administrator, you step down. If you are greedy enough to want to stay, ask your son to go and coach in Singapore instead.

K.O.P. - you expect BCCI to work like IITs  - please wake up 

Now that reservations are taking effect, my answer is yes absolutely, I expect the BCCI to work like IITs  

[ramshorns]

All eyes will be on Sourav Ganguly

Principal Correspondent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ganguly has expressed his eagerness to perform well
The other big names include V.V.S. Laxman, Y. Venugopala Rao and Dinesh Mongia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HYDERABAD: The focus will be on former India captain Sourav Ganguly when he plays for Cricket Association of Bengal in the all-India Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup invitation cricket tournament commencing at different venues here from September 2.

Ganguly has expressed his eagerness to perform well and thereby send a message to the selectors that he is still in the business of scoring runs. D.S. Chalapathi, Joint Secretary, Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), told the media on Thursday that Ganguly had confirmed his participation in the tournament, which will feature 20 teams and will be played over three days on a knock-out basis.

The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals. The final will be played at the Rajiv *hi International Stadium (Uppal) from September 18 to 20.

Big guns in action


The other big guns in the tournament include V.V.S. Laxman, who will lead Hyderabad, Y. Venugopala Rao, skipper of Andhra and Dinesh Mongia among others.


Dr. M.V. Sridhar, Senior Vice-President of HCA, said the format was reverted to the original three-day affair after experimenting with limited-overs matches for a few years.

"There is no specific reason except to give chances to the players to blossom in different formats over a period of time," he said.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/01/stories/2006090104512200.htm

[CLR James]

Would that be the reservation for the son of the chief selector?

In most competitive exams in India (e.g. IIT - JEE), the administrative chairs (e.g. Campus chairs) have a convention that they step down if a close relative is taking the exam, so there is no accusation of cheating or conflict of interest.

I am baffled why a similar stance cannot be adopted for cricket administration. If your son is in the reckoning and you are a selector or power administrator, you step down. If you are greedy enough to want to stay, ask your son to go and coach in Singapore instead.

Rohan Gavaskar was the biggest fraud perpetuated on us, the Indian cricket public, since Maharaja Vizianagram played ages ago by outright buying his way into the team.

Dear KoP,

You forget Ashok *otra, Suru Nayak, Bharat Arun, Alan Johnson, Doda Ganesh, Noel David.......

[sgusa]

Really? Why? What is so bad about his FC averages?

Nothing. Just that there were at least about 10 players with signifcantly better FC stats (all aspects) than him who weren't at the end of their playing days when he made his debut. I can count 3 alone from the TN team.

Since when have Indian teams been selected based on FC averages? In any case, there was nothing shocking about Rohan's selection to me -- he had a decent average, if he improved his bowling some more, could've become a handy all-rounder. Are there people with better averages? Of course, even from my cricketing minnow state!

haha. good double take on that one. You were the one who brought up his FC avg to begin with as if it was some metric.

[CLR James]

I think what Dex meant is that RG's fc average was not bad enough to put him out of contention. He had over 10 hundreds and an average 45+ when he was selected. We have seen far far worse. There are times when you pick someone and that person does not click. I would not call Parthasarathy Sharma, Ashok Malhotra, Ramesh Saxena, Ramen Lamba,  or even WV Raman 'fradulent' choices simply because they failed to perform at the highest level. They deserved to be tried out on the basis of their fc form/performances, but like many, they could not establish themselves. Happens all the time. I am just surprised that Rohan is being singled out. Or is this not about Rohan at all? Incidentally, Rohan averaged 108 in the series against England A playing for India A during 2003-04, months before he was selected. His overall ODI batting average that season was 48. Good enough I would think for a look in.

BTW, I have an interesting example of what can be called both nepotism and sheer clairvoyance. Dilip Vengsarkar, as a specialist test batsman, took 11 test matches to score his first 50, and 17 to notch up his first hundred. the point is, he was persisted with. How many people in the history of test cricket have been given such a long trial period (ask any of the gentlemen named above or the likes of Bhaskar Pillai or Amarjeet Kaypee, or even Rohan Gavaskar) ? Perhaps being from Bombay had something to do with it? Of course, he more than justified the faith placed on him later on, but man, what faith!

[sgusa]

I think what Dex meant is that RG's fc average was not bad enough to put him out of contention. He had over 10 hundreds and an average 45+ when he was selected. We have seen far far worse. There are times when you pick someone and that person does not click. I would not call Parthasarathy Sharma, Ashok Malhotra, Ramesh Saxena, Ramen Lamba,  or even WV Raman 'fradulent' choices simply because they failed to perform at the highest level. They deserved to be tried out on the basis of their fc form/performances, but like many, they could not establish themselves. Happens all the time. I am just surprised that Rohan is being singled out. Or is this not about Rohan at all? Incidentally, Rohan averaged 108 in the series against England A playing for India A during 2003-04, months before he was selected. His overall ODI batting average that season was 48. Good enough I would think for a look in.

BTW, I have an interesting example of what can be called both nepotism and sheer clairvoyance. Dilip Vengsarkar, as a specialist test batsman, took 11 test matches to score his first 50, and 17 to notch up his first hundred. the point is, he was persisted with. How many people in the history of test cricket have been given such a long trial period (ask any of the gentlemen named above or the likes of Bhaskar Pillai or Amarjeet Kaypee, or even Rohan Gavaskar) ? Perhaps being from Bombay had something to do with it? Of course, he more than justified the faith placed on him later on, but man, what faith!

Question is not of persisting with someone , but that there were others with better talent ( in however way one can measure such a quality - FC AVG, Big scores , etc etc) who could have been given a chance ( Sharath, Sriram to name a couple from TN )

[dextrous]

Really? Why? What is so bad about his FC averages?

Nothing. Just that there were at least about 10 players with signifcantly better FC stats (all aspects) than him who weren't at the end of their playing days when he made his debut. I can count 3 alone from the TN team.

Since when have Indian teams been selected based on FC averages? In any case, there was nothing shocking about Rohan's selection to me -- he had a decent average, if he improved his bowling some more, could've become a handy all-rounder. Are there people with better averages? Of course, even from my cricketing minnow state!

haha. good double take on that one. You were the one who brought up his FC avg to begin with as if it was some metric.

Um, again, you, who has no hate for me...

CLR has explained it best. Rohan's name wasn't that out of the blue. Though, it appears that any East Zone selection is usually considered a scandal. Despite the fact that Saba Karim (with OMG an average of 60 was overlooked in his prime in favor of More) or that Ganguly's selections caused heartburn or that Mohanty got a very raw deal or that Rohan got a chance to play.

Sharath, Sriram, etc...you can throw names to undermine anyone, whether it be Dravid, Ganguly, Yuvraj, etc. whoever was selected. But the point is, Rohan's selection wasn't shocking or surprising. In fact, if anything, being Gavaskar's son probably made it harder for him to be selected. Unlike other fathers, Sunil wasn't going around begging or forcing his son into the squad. If he had used even half of his influence, Rohan would've gotten a chance much earlier and/or an extended run.

[RicePlateReddy]

Dear KoP,

You forget Ashok *otra, Suru Nayak, Bharat Arun, Alan Johnson, Doda Ganesh, Noel David.......

Aaah, fond memories, CLR 

• I don't remember how *otra did before he was selected. Didn't follow him closely at all.
• And I hated Suru Nayak's selection, but have to reluctantly say for the slot he was selected (all rounder with a seam bolwing option in England) he was relatively better positioned than most others vying for such a role. Of course overall, his selection was a joke. Incidentally, the same jerk who manouvered Rohan's selection was responsible for Suru's also. So relative to Rohan, based on common source, lets call it a wash 
• Bharat Arun and Doda Ganesh merited their selection, even with their limitations. It was clear that Arun was a prime candidate based on his domestic performance the 2 seasons before selection. Yes, he was a fat slob, but his results prior to selection in the pre-fitness era of Indian cricket meant his candidacy was fair. Ganesh in my opinion was actually a worthy choice who sadly fell by the way for reasons I could never understand. Srinath talked fondly about him some years ago, state bias and all.
• Noel David wasn't a great player, but again had a splendid domestic season where he was top 3 on the charts whether we liked it or not. Kinda like Jacob Martin.
• Alan Johnson - I take it you mean David Johnson? He was a little inferior to Ganesh in terms of candidacy but forced his was based on domestic performances. And he bowled terribly and wasn't given a run of more than 2 tests as a result.
  

So I mantain that Rohan Gavaskar was a joke - he was never in the top 3 candidates as a middle order bat, and is a leading candidate for worst selection in the Indian team in modern times. Gives me an idea for a poll on this group to see where the consensus lies 


 

[sgusa]

Really? Why? What is so bad about his FC averages?

Nothing. Just that there were at least about 10 players with signifcantly better FC stats (all aspects) than him who weren't at the end of their playing days when he made his debut. I can count 3 alone from the TN team.

Since when have Indian teams been selected based on FC averages? In any case, there was nothing shocking about Rohan's selection to me -- he had a decent average, if he improved his bowling some more, could've become a handy all-rounder. Are there people with better averages? Of course, even from my cricketing minnow state!

haha. good double take on that one. You were the one who brought up his FC avg to begin with as if it was some metric.

Um, again, you, who has no hate for me...

CLR has explained it best. Rohan's name wasn't that out of the blue. Though, it appears that any East Zone selection is usually considered a scandal. Despite the fact that Saba Karim (with OMG an average of 60 was overlooked in his prime in favor of More) or that Ganguly's selections caused heartburn or that Mohanty got a very raw deal or that Rohan got a chance to play.

Sharath, Sriram, etc...you can throw names to undermine anyone, whether it be Dravid, Ganguly, Yuvraj, etc. whoever was selected. But the point is, Rohan's selection wasn't shocking or surprising. In fact, if anything, being Gavaskar's son probably made it harder for him to be selected. Unlike other fathers, Sunil wasn't going around begging or forcing his son into the squad. If he had used even half of his influence, Rohan would've gotten a chance much earlier and/or an extended run.

My reply to your post has nothing to do with my feeling for you, if i have any.

It was a simple reply pointing out the falacy in your argument. YOU brought up the question of Rohan's FC AVG, and then a couple of posts later admonished that statistics as not important. What now, i am not supposed to even contest points on the threads that you deem to grace with your presence ?

[dextrous]

Really? Why? What is so bad about his FC averages?

Nothing. Just that there were at least about 10 players with signifcantly better FC stats (all aspects) than him who weren't at the end of their playing days when he made his debut. I can count 3 alone from the TN team.

Since when have Indian teams been selected based on FC averages? In any case, there was nothing shocking about Rohan's selection to me -- he had a decent average, if he improved his bowling some more, could've become a handy all-rounder. Are there people with better averages? Of course, even from my cricketing minnow state!

haha. good double take on that one. You were the one who brought up his FC avg to begin with as if it was some metric.

Um, again, you, who has no hate for me...

CLR has explained it best. Rohan's name wasn't that out of the blue. Though, it appears that any East Zone selection is usually considered a scandal. Despite the fact that Saba Karim (with OMG an average of 60 was overlooked in his prime in favor of More) or that Ganguly's selections caused heartburn or that Mohanty got a very raw deal or that Rohan got a chance to play.

Sharath, Sriram, etc...you can throw names to undermine anyone, whether it be Dravid, Ganguly, Yuvraj, etc. whoever was selected. But the point is, Rohan's selection wasn't shocking or surprising. In fact, if anything, being Gavaskar's son probably made it harder for him to be selected. Unlike other fathers, Sunil wasn't going around begging or forcing his son into the squad. If he had used even half of his influence, Rohan would've gotten a chance much earlier and/or an extended run.

My reply to your post has nothing to do with my feeling for you, if i have any.

It was a simple reply pointing out the falacy in your argument. YOU brought up the question of Rohan's FC AVG, and then a couple of posts later admonished that statistics as not important. What now, i am not supposed to even contest points on the threads that you deem to grace with your presence ?

Huh? Fallacy in argument? Where? I pointed out his FC average to show there's nothing shocking that he played for India and then talked about FC average to PROVE that just because someone has a better FC average than him, hasn't meant that they have automatically got a chance to play for India.

The only time it would be a "fallacy" is if Rohan was averaging in the low 30s and was selected in the team and I had talked about FC averages.

[Libran]

Nothing. Just that there were at least about 10 players with signifcantly better FC stats (all aspects) than him who weren't at the end of their playing days when he made his debut. I can count 3 alone from the TN team.

K.O.P. - Didn't you know - TN has not been part of India for a looong time

Moreso after VBC became a Selector...A batsman who thought that he was in the team only to hit the cover off every ball that was bowled.

Better league cricketers like VV Sankupani (was supposedly one up on Srikkanth in terms of belting the ball) did not get opportunities in Ranji simply because of politics

[suraj]

Really? Why? What is so bad about his FC averages?

Nothing. Just that there were at least about 10 players with signifcantly better FC stats (all aspects) than him who weren't at the end of their playing days when he made his debut. I can count 3 alone from the TN team.

Since when have Indian teams been selected based on FC averages? In any case, there was nothing shocking about Rohan's selection to me -- he had a decent average, if he improved his bowling some more, could've become a handy all-rounder. Are there people with better averages? Of course, even from my cricketing minnow state!

haha. good double take on that one. You were the one who brought up his FC avg to begin with as if it was some metric.

Um, again, you, who has no hate for me...

CLR has explained it best. Rohan's name wasn't that out of the blue. Though, it appears that any East Zone selection is usually considered a scandal. Despite the fact that Saba Karim (with OMG an average of 60 was overlooked in his prime in favor of More) or that Ganguly's selections caused heartburn or that Mohanty got a very raw deal or that Rohan got a chance to play.

Sharath, Sriram, etc...you can throw names to undermine anyone, whether it be Dravid, Ganguly, Yuvraj, etc. whoever was selected. But the point is, Rohan's selection wasn't shocking or surprising. In fact, if anything, being Gavaskar's son probably made it harder for him to be selected. Unlike other fathers, Sunil wasn't going around begging or forcing his son into the squad. If he had used even half of his influence, Rohan would've gotten a chance much earlier and/or an extended run.

My reply to your post has nothing to do with my feeling for you, if i have any.

It was a simple reply pointing out the falacy in your argument. YOU brought up the question of Rohan's FC AVG, and then a couple of posts later admonished that statistics as not important. What now, i am not supposed to even contest points on the threads that you deem to grace with your presence ?

Huh? Fallacy in argument? Where? I pointed out his FC average to show there's nothing shocking that he played for India and then talked about FC average to PROVE that just because someone has a better FC average than him, hasn't meant that they have automatically got a chance to play for India.

The only time it would be a "fallacy" is if Rohan was averaging in the low 30s and was selected in the team and I had talked about FC averages.

I see that another rivalry has recently started on Blwedex land