Chairman of Selectors MSK Prasad stressed on the role of management in cricket and spoke at length with Wisden India regarding certain players who have done exceedingly well in the limited opportunities but hasn’t been able to retain their place due to extensive competition within the team.
“Being a student of management — I have done my Masters in Management – and with my experience, I had as a director (of cricket at the Andhra Cricket Association) also, the one thing I am very aware of is that it is very important to have extremely clear channels of communication. All the misunderstandings, everything that happens, happens just because of the lack of proper communication,” said Prasad.
Prasad further added that he had a word with players like Parthiv Patel and Karun Nair who has done well for the national team in the past but failed to find a spot in the tour to Sri Lanka. While Nair scored a brilliant triple century against England later last year, Parthiv made a successful comeback to international cricket in the series against England when Wriddhiman Saha was ruled out due to injury. He scored some crucial runs opening the batting and took some important catches behind the stumps.
“And if you see the example, we couldn’t pick Karun Nair and Parthiv Patel for this series. I spoke to Karun and explained why he is not there in this series and what it is that we are expecting of him for him to make a comeback. And at the same time, it was very tough to leave Parthiv out. Whatever chances he got, he played exceptionally well and did everything that was asked of him. But we had to tell him that this being such a short series, we didn’t have the luxury of having an additional wicketkeeper. And Colombo is just an hour’s flight from India, so in case something happens, he can always fly in. Maybe if we hadn’t communicated those things in that way, he would have had hundred-and-one thoughts in his mind. He could have felt left out, unwanted, thinking maybe X, Y or Z was not in favour of him. So it is always good to speak to the player and let him know where he stands” said Prasad while explaining the whole scenario.
Prasad added that he also had a chat with Yuvraj Singh who made a terrific comeback in the limited overs format by smashing 150 against England in his 2nd comeback match.
“I had spoken to Yuvraj Singh last year during the Ranji Trophy season and told him how important his role would be as a mentor-cum-player in the Champions Trophy. He did well in the chances that he got and even as a mentor, surprisingly he played that role too really well,” said Prasad.