Indian team for the ODI's has been announced. Sachin Tendulkar makes a comeback into Indian ODI setup for the first time after the World Cup. This is the major news in the Indian cricketing circles and what this has effectively meant is a promising youngster like Ajinkya Rahane flies back home from Australia.  Rahane was in Australia for the entire test series and had got himself acclimatised to the conditions. Now, Rahane has to fly back home without even knowing what wrong he has done to be out of the team.

It seems quiet odd that in a day and age where India has abundance of talent still Indian boards allows players to pick and choose the tournaments they want to play. Moreover, there is no concern about the form and fitness of senior players. I think the best teams are not the ones with most experienced players but the ones with the XI best cricketers available in the country irrespective of their age and experience. If we compare Indian cricket to that of Australia and England the approach of these teams are so contemporary and refreshing. England for a long-long time functioned like India is doing now and the result was that they never did well in tests nor in ODI's. England kept going back to the same players and retained their experienced players irrespective of their forms and ended up losing countless tests and ODI's.  Then came a change where they said that they need different players for tests and ODI's. Every selection in the team was based on performance. Youngsters were blooded into the team. The attitude of the players underwent a sea change. Even the seniors had to work on their fitness and form to be in the team. During the process even likes of Kevin Pietersen have been shown the door.  It sent out a message that no one was guaranteed a place in the team. The result of the entire process is that England are the No.1 team in the world and their bench strength is second to none.

Indian cricket for far too long has been all about stars. This phenomenon has caught up with our selectors and administrators who are perennially happy to go with the flow without ever trying to take the initiative to take Indian cricket forward. To build a champion team be it in the ODI's, tests or T20's we need to have a vision and a system in place. We will never come across this vision or set up a system accidently it has to be planned. If we have talents like Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane warming the benches in test matches while the team is performing poorly and losing game after game it just makes us wonder if we are happy to live in the past glory rather than build a bright future. Contribution of some of the senior cricketers has been immense and invaluable but there is a time when we have to look beyond them. Then there are players who think it is their birth right to be in the time without ever focussing on performance or fitness. It would serve them well if they are shown the door and replaced by someone who has the passion and attitude to perform at the highest level.  

Halla bol!!

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