As a batsman, Sandeep Patil has a modest test record - an
average in the mid thirties from 29 tests - and
two remarkable innings... one in his debut series in Australia where
he smashed Lilee & Co. for a blistering 174 and another two years later in
England - where he smashed 24 runs of a Bob Willis over. He was a member of
the squad that won the World Cup in 1983.
Patil has been the manager for the Indian team, a rebel ICL team and the
Director at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. And then six months ago, he was made Chairman
of Selectors - the wise men who pick the squad, on whose shoulders rest the hopes
of a billion people.
Today he's done something that I wouldn't normally
associate with him, or for that
matter any Indian selector. He's dropped
Virender Sehwag. There I said it... DROPPED Virender Sehwag!
This comes after the exit of Gautam Gambhir - who was dropped
at the start of this series. So India will search for opening 'nirvana' in the next two tests (and may be a few after that) with untested
batsmen - Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane.
Gambhir and Sehwag are the only Indians to aggregate more
than 4000 partnership runs in Tests - and that at average of over 52 in the
last 8 years. They have gone where even the exhalted Mr Gavaskar hadn't
ventured (Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan -3010 runs at 53.75) - becoming one
of just five pairs in test cricket to achieve this feat.
Admittedly, there was a huge gap between their exploits home and away but consider
these staggerring stats... In Viru, we
have a batsmen who holds the record for the top three test scores by an Indian
- a man with 8500 test runs at an average that had fallen in a past 12 months
just a tad under 50. A man who has played over 100 tests and has 23 centuries
including two triple tons. Of the 26 batsmen to debut for India in the past 12
years, he just one of the two to have
scored a century on debut - and that was against South Africa, in South
Africa.
His partner, the dour Gauti, has played 54 tests for his
4000 runs, making 9 centuries on the way.
And we've just put them back on the drawing board --
consigned them to play Ranji Trophy for Delhi -- ostensibly in a bid to regain
some form. (Note to self: Must go to
Kotla if they're playing for Delhi)
It is a brave new world that Indian cricket must venture
into when the team travels to South Africa later this year. So let me throw in
my two bits for anyone who's listening -
bring back Wasim Jaffer. The
Mumbai run machine has had a phenomenal domestic season - his team Mumbai won
everything in sight... And he has played 20 of his 31 tests abroad - for 5
centuries and almost 2000 runs at an average of 34 is better that most Indian
batsmen overseas.
