Topic > Politics in Indian Cricket

There was a time when India had a perennial problem plaguing their team - the elusive number 4 spot. India tried and tested so many batsmen with 2-down in limited overs cricket that even fans lost track of who was playing in that position. It had essentially become - as Aakash Chopra said - "a case of musical chairs" with batsmen rushing to fill that one place in the Indians' playing XI. Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Vijay Shankar, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni have all been on trial for the position, but none for too long. Ambati Rayudu, in particular, was a victim of questionable selection policies, despite being fully backed by Indian captain Virat Kohli. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay India's erratic selection policies and, at times, confusing decisions have been criticized by experts, analysts and fans. It is natural that a player does not fulfill his potential when he constantly has a sword hanging over his head - he could be fired at any moment. For each player to thrive, they must be guaranteed a long rope and be supported for a minimum number of games before being replaced. This assurance has been absent for a long time in Indian cricket, especially in ODIs and T20Is, and many of the players who auditioned for the role were in an environment where they were insecure about their place in the team. However, the winds of change are now blowing stronger than ever. One reason could be the appointment of a strong, capable and widely respected BCCI president, Saurav Ganguly, who firmly believes in the theory of player support to the core. Even when Ganguly was the skipper of the national team, he always backed players he believed had potential, which was a huge factor behind the rise of legends like MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. As the president of the world's largest cricket association, Ganguly will no doubt give players longer opportunities to prove their worth and get used to playing in a particular spot in the Indian XI. The appointment of former CAB president and Indian captain Saurav Ganguly as the new BCCI president could lead to further flourishing of Indian cricket. In India's last limited-overs series, the West Indies' Tour of India, we watched the Indian batsmen come of age and gawked at the batting unit running like a well-oiled machine. While the West Indian batsman ran riot and scored 207-5 in the 1st T20I in Hyderabad, we witnessed one of the greatest chases in T20s as KL Rahul 62 and Virat Kohli 94 masterfully led the Indian team to victory. Young Rishabh Pant, hailed as MS Dhoni's successor, has been criticized for quite a while. He played immaturely and brazenly, often throwing his wicket away due to rash shots. A similar situation occurred in the first T20 when Pant's cameo of 18 was cut short by Sheldon Cottrell. However, thanks to the brilliance of Rahul and Kohli, the failures of the other batsmen were masked. In the second T20I at Thiruvananthapuram, the Indian batting order was shuffled. Despite Shivam Dube's 54 and Rishabh Pant's 33, India struggled to a combined 170-7. This total was not enough as the West Indies batsmen fought their way to the total in just 18.3 overs after receiving respite in the form of dropped catches several times. In the third T20I in Mumbai, the Indian openers got off to a flying start.