Krishnamachari Srikkanth did not say it in so many words but the selection committee chairman gave ample hints that lack of fitness cost Yuvraj Singh his place in the Indian team for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.
Chief selector Srikkanth said his committee laid a lot of stress on the players' fitness while selecting the Asia Cup squad.
Fitness has been a problem with Yuvraj, who seemed to have gained weight of late and was seen fielding in the deep and not in his customary point position. Srikkanth said fitness was one of the main criteria while picking the Indian squad and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was happy with the selection. A lot of stress was given on the fitness of a player. Fitness and fielding are very important. We have gone through the record of last one year and did a detailed analysis. It was a lovely discussion with the captain. This is the best possible squad and I think the captain is also convinced. In recent past, we lost some matches or struggled in some matches because of poor fielding. So the selectors are trying to put lot of stress on fielding. Consistency was another factor in the selection process. We also put stress on consistent performance. Lot of players have done consistently well and apart from the seniors, we blooded some youngsters as well so that they know what international cricket is all about. Talking about India's tri-series debacle in Zimbabwe where the second-string squad under Suresh Raina lost twice to the hosts, Srikknath refused to call it a setback.Whatever said and done we could not field a winning combination for some time now.
We lost the 2007 World Cup miserably, followed two consecutive losses in the T-20 World cup Super 8 matches and in between we lost the Idea Cup and the Champion Trophy. Even in the home one day series against Australia we were beaten 2-4. And now the loss in the Tri-series to minnows in the world of cricket. All this is happening because of poor selection. The selection process is simply farce in India. That is the major reason for our repeated reverses in the Premiere Tournament in World of Cricket. Bouncing deliveries are a cause of concern to Tendulkar as well as Sourab Tiwari. So there is no question of an excuse saying that the second XI lost. Even the first XI suffered an ignominy of an innings defeat in a home test match against South Africa when Dayle Steyn ripped apart the cream of so called Indian super stars. Now the rested players are taken back because the second XI lost in Zimbabwe. But when the first XI lost in West Indies in T-20 for the second time we just ignored the same. Thus we were not able to put up a good show in any form of the game and the farce selection is the root cause for the debacle India suffered everywhere. Dina, Ashwin got one more chance to prove their worth while Sourab Tiwari got the nod to fill in the Mumbai quota. Once Sachin return back to one day format Tiwari will give way to him. The only surprise is the dropping of Yuveraj Singh. The way Sachin Tendulkar is opting out of major matches does not augur well for Indian Team. Seniors should come forward to prop up the weak batting order just like Mahela Jayawardne and Chanderapaul are doing for the Sri Lankan and West Indies side respectively. Tendulkar is ready to play test matches against Sri Lanka so that he can score many more hundreds and keep his record clean. His presence in the side should help India win matches regularly.
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Dropping of Yusuf Pathan looks like a good move as well. Although, I would have been happier with the selection of one of the 2 fast bowling allrounders - Irfan Pathan or Abishek Nayar. I hope both these players get selected to the India-A team enroute to the main team.
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