‘Virat Kohli’s India Playing Like Sourav Ganguly’s Team Of 2000’

Jan 9, 2019 at 4:12 PM

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‘Virat Kohli’s India Playing Like Sourav Ganguly’s Team Of 2000’

According to MSK Prasad, the BCCI’s chairman of selectors, Virat Kohli’s men are playing brilliant cricket just like the “class of 93” under Mohammed Azharuddin and the team of 2000 under Sourav Ganguly.

He quoted: “It gives me so much pleasure to see the fighting spirit of the boys. The confidence level has been tremendous. Even in domestic cricket, there used to be a perception that if a team batting first scores 400 runs, more often than not, it is a drawn game. But here if the opposition scored nearly 500, we replied with 750 plus and also won the match.

“What was important was how we approached batting second. This young bunch has immense self belief and quality to inspire. Just like the team that was led by Azharuddin in 1993 and the team led by Dada (Ganguly) in 2000.”

Prasad also told the selection committee had immense faith in Karun Nair – the triple centurion – and were sure of his abilities. Karun smashed a wonderful 303* in the final Test at Chennai against England which saw him earn the Man of the Match award.

“We had full confidence in Karun’s abilities as a match-winner. This committee firmly believes in grooming young talent. The selection committee’s philosophy is simple. Firstly, we (selectors) need to get convinced about a youngster’s abilities. We need to feel that the boy deserves to be in the side and can be a big force in international cricket. 

“If we are convinced that a young player can go on to become a match-winner, it is a matter of time before he would get a chance,” he added. 

Prasad also believes every player who deserves to play for the national team should be given a fair chance to showcase his talent before getting dropped.

“Few failures are bound to happen. It’s not easy to expect anyone to just go out there and deliver results from Day 1 itself. You don’t just pick a player and then drop him for good. That is never good for confidence of any young player. One must understand that a team is a combination of individuals and good performance happens when everyone is confident. 

“If somewhere something is lacking, then we come into picture. When we pick a player, we want to ensure that the boy gets enough chances to perform. Any good youngster is future of Indian cricket and they need to be persisted with. We (current committee) did not have lengthy India careers but when we took over, our sole aim has been to identify the right players with potential. That has been our endeavour.”

After Karun’s triple hundred, the job has got even tougher for selectors. When Ajinkya Rahane comes back it would be difficult for them to select the side. To this, Prasad said: “It’s a very healthy sign that we have so many performers. One needs to understand that only 11 can play and it will always be dependant on the mindset of the team management as to what they think is the best possible combination for a particular situation.”

“Take the case of Amit Mishra. He had a tremendous ODI series against New Zealand. He got a five-for in Visakhapatnam ODI but when it came to the Test match, Jayant Yadav was picked. It was the same venue, same ground but it wasn’t an emotional decision but a practical one considering the number of left-handers England had in their playing XI,” he explained. 

When asked to choose between Jayant Yadav and Karun Yadav for their standout performances,  the chairman of selectors quoted: “I will not like to differentiate as both have been equally satisfying. Jayant proved us from ball one and Karun showed what he is capable of.”

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