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Up Front, Down Under

Late on the evening of the fourth day of the Ahmedabad Test, the Indian selectors will meet to pick the touring party for Australia. Anticipating by a few hours, Prem Panicker gets Harsha Bhogle to sit in the selector's chair and come up with Rediff's pick. The transcript of their recorded conversation follows:

Morning, Harsha, ready to play selector?

Often, Prem, it is a lot easier to play selector than it is this time round. For some reason, I am struggling to put together 16, to be honest, given the conditions. Much easier to do it had it been England, even if it had been in India, of course, it is much easier. But I am struggling.

What I thought we would do was, look at a breakup, and I thought the way to go about it is to leave the batsmen till the end, we normally pick batsmen in Indian cricket, I'd leave that till the end. I'd say one wicketkeeper, four quicks, three spinners, that leaves you with eight batsmen. And the reason I am picking eight batsmen is because I think our batting is very fragile -- it is very pretty, but it cracks under pressure. It is an outstanding batting side, the best batting side in home conditions, but it is not a proven batting side in away conditions.

So I would pick eight batsmen to give the tour committee an option, and I would insist that two out of those eight batsmen provide additional bowling support. Because I see India playing two spinners at Sydney, and hoping to have an additional spin bowling from a change bowler, and I see India bowling three seamers at Melbourne and looking for an additional seam bowling option in the side, so I would have two batsmen in the side, one of whom can bowl spin and one of whom can bowl seam-up.

Okay, like you said we'll leave the batsmen for the last. The easiest pick seems to be the wicket-keeper, you got any thoughts on that?

I have never had any doubt in my mind about who the wicket-keeper should be, and I am still convinced it should be Nayan Mongia and not M S K Prasad. There is one thing at the back of my mind -- it is clear to everyone today that MSK Prasad is a fantastic option. He is not as good a wicketkeeper yet as Mongia. Which is why I suspect that there could be the issue of attitude and team spirit, on both of which, people have had strong opinions on Nayan Mongia. If that is the reason that Nayan is being left out of the side, then I think that comes first, and I'd pick Prasad. But I'd be very disappointed if that was the reason and it was not made public. If that is the reason, then it should be made public, then there is no doubt at all that it should be Prasad. But if it is a purely cricketing judgement -- and very often, selections need not be purely cricketing judgements -- but in this case, if it is, it has to be Mongia, I am very clear about that.

Okay, so let's put it this way -- if in the opinion of say, obviously you would be taking feedback from the captain and the coach, so if in the opinion of captain and coach, Mongia scores a few under par, on attitude, on commitment, on team spirit, stuff like that, it is Prasad, otherwise Mongia gets the first choice.

If he scores even a couple of points under on attitude and commitment he goes straight out. He has to score a hundred on attitude and a hundred on commitment.

Alright, so we'll leave that for the captain and coach to decide, but in any case, it is between Mongia and Prasad. I know that it's probably a bit late in the day to ask this, but I am a bit curious about this. Three years ago I saw this boy keep, Tilak Naidu. And since then, Siruguppi has been doing all the keeping. But recently, in the Irani Trophy if you remember, Kumble actually praised Naidu's keeping and batting. Do you see him as some kind of prospect?

He needs to play for South Zone first, because otherwise, the selectors will not take a closer look at him. He's got to be the first choice in his zone. And I think there is a lot of support for Siruguppi in Karnataka. But it is true that it's a good time in India to be a wicket-keeper.

Have you seen Naidu keep?

Not very much, no, in domestic cricket I've seen him bat, more than keep wickets, he's good enough to bat six for Karnataka, which is a good side given that they have Dravid and Bharadwaj in it already and a pair of decent openers in Somasundar and Arun Kumar, so ... I'd wait and see a little more.

So let's leave Naidu aside for the time being, that takes care of the issue of the wicket keeper. We've now got to the issue of the four seamers you want to take with you.

I'll actually finish off the issue of the three spinners because I think there'll be less debate on that. I'd go straight for the three that are on this series. I'd think a little bit about Sunil Joshi, but I'd still pick him by default because we do not have another left armer in the country. Let's be very honest, there isn't another left armer at all, no competition.

Funny you should say that, Harsha, because I was just reading an article a few days back in one of the newspapers where, according to the writer of the article, Sachin Tendulkar had made a huge push for Nilesh Kulkarni to come in to the side. How do you rate Kulkarni as a left armer?

No! I know Sunil Joshi has taken 27 wickets from 12 Test matches, and Tendulkar wasn't very impressed with him in the West Indies either, where he seemed short of ideas, but you've always got to back potential. If you look at Kulkarni bowl and you look at Joshi bowl, then you'll know who's the better bowler.

I've no doubt in my mind... if you want to pick two spinners, I'd pick Harbajan and Kumble, I'm very clear about that. If you want a third, if you want a left arm spin bowling option, because on a turning track Joshi can really bowl well... I don't think you'll really get that, except at Sydney and even that it won't be like the tracks over here, but I'd still keep him on.

Right. So we've now got a keeper slotted in, we've got Kumble, Harbajan and Joshi going in as the three spinners. We are not looking at names like Rajesh Chauhan, we are not looking at some of the names that are being...

No. The only other name I would even consider would be Nikhil Chopra. But...

Where would you say Harbajan scores over Nikhil?

I'd think Harbajan is a more complete off spinner in the Test match game, he is willing to toss the ball up a lot more, he turns the ball more, so I think Nikhil Chopra is a rather more limited bowler. Having said that, Chopra's impressed everyone, every time we've thought of him as limited he's done something more. But I'd still go with Harbajan in the Test matches.

Okay, so that settles the spin options. Coming to seam...

I think three pick themselves. Srinath, Prasad and Mohanty...

Alright...

Now. That leaves the option of a fourth seamer. You must have a fourth...

Before we get to the fourth seamer, Harsha, India being what it is tends to play four bowlers most of the time. Of these three, who would you have leading the attack? Who would you have in your eleven if it is a four bowler option?

If I had to pick three seamers, as I think I would in Melbourne, I would pick Srinath, Prasad, Mohanty straightaway.

Right. But if you had to pick two seamers...

I'd pick Srinath and Prasad.

You would pick Prasad over Mohanty?

I would, simply because I think Prasad is a very good bowler of the old ball as well, he is very steady, I think he's shown the selectors here in this Test match, he's bowled some very steady spells for his captain, so I'd still go with Prasad, though I have two games in the lead up to the first Test match, I'd have Prasad and Mohanty playing both those games, to check for myself who is the better option. But off hand, I'd have Srinath and Prasad, though I'd still see three playing in at least two of the Test matches.

That brings me to my fourth. I think the fourth would go by the captain's choice, I think the selectors will give the captain the fourth seamer that he wants. And the names that they will consider... I don't think they will consider Laxmi Ratan Shukla. I think they will take a call on Ajit Agarkar's fitness. I think the fact that he has not been picked for the first two one-dayers is a huge statement. If he had been picked for the first two one dayers, and if he had shown fitness, he would have been my fourth seamer. Simply because he can bowl you a steady spell if his captain has a word with him, because his captains have both been very flattering about his commitment.

I know that he goes for a lot of runs in the one dayers but I'd back him to bowl a very steady line in the Tests. Remember he's only played one Test match so far so we don't have too much to go by. But I would pick Agarkar if he was fit. But the fact that he is not played for the first two one dayers, and the fact that he has got a terrible fitness record, which is very sad for a good young man, would in my book keep Agarkar out. If I found him good enough to go on a tour, I would say, go on that A tour of the West Indies, where if you break down, the loss is not as much as if you break down in Australia. So I would not pick Agarkar because I would suspect his fitness.

I would then look at the two Delhi bowlers. Ashish Nehra, because he is left arm over. I'd have picked Nehra, if there had been a left arm quick in Australia. Today Australia don't have a single left arm quick. All their bowling options are right arm over. If they had a left armer I'd pick Nehra because he would have been very valuable to bowl in the nets and give us a valuable option in the matches.

But tell us a bit more about that line of thinking. You said if Australia had a left armer you would have picked a left armer too, now how does that work?

Because I would have had Nehra bowling regularly to India in the nets, in match situations, create a match situation and bowl, because India are very very poor against left arm over bowlers. So given that, I would have picked Nehra. But I've seen too little of him, and he hasn't produced the big hauls in domestic cricket that you need. A two-for, three-for haul in Indian domestic is not good enough for me. I think you need six-for, seven-for regularly.

I think Amit Bhandari is a very very good seam bowler, but I still think he needs to have one good season and to know that he can bowl in all conditions. And that is why given all this, I would go back to Dodda Ganesh, he took 60 wickets last year in the Ranji Trophy, very good swing bowler which will be good... the ball doesnt swing that much in Australia but that would still be a very good option. My only complaint against him is that he is too erratic, if he bowls short they will hit him all over the park. If there is one country you don't bowl short to, it is Australia because they grow up cutting and pulling, and so I would be very careful with that, but I would still have Ganesh in my team as the fourth seamer.

Yeah, in fact, if you don't pick Ganesh now, aren't you are pretty writing him off as an investment? You picked him for South Africa, you picked him for the West Indies, you invested a lot of money on him... and then you've just dumped him...

Yeah, well, it is debatable whether it is an investment, or a failed option. You bought an option into Ganesh and it didn't work. If that is the assessment of the people that matter... and I think one of the things that will go against Ganesh is the fact that Madan Lal, who was his coach on what they believe was not a great tour, both South Africa and the West Indies, and Madan Lal is on the selection committee, and I suspect that that would go against him. I don't know how much Kapil Dev knows about Ganesh, because that would be a huge factor. I hope Mr Lele doesn't come into the selection consideration.

Absolutely, yes. So, you'd say that having considered Nehra, having considered Bhandari, and finding precious little else to consider, having sort of put a question mark over Agarkar, then the choice is Srinath, Prasad, Mohanty, Ganesh...

My dark horse is this bowler from Madhya Pradesh called Harvinder Singh Sodhi. And the only reason I say dark horse is, he's been bowling in the nets, the whole issue of Agarkar bowling in the nets has been widely debated, Harvinder Singh Sodhi bowled in the nets as well...

Yeah, right, and he's bowled in both the Test venues...

And had a good Irany Trophy.

Okay...

He can be quick, he can bat a bit, but I would still go for Ganesh.

Right. So we've got four seam bowlers, you are clear about who you would want if it is a two seam attack and who you want if it's a three seam attack, fine. So that brings us to the batsmen... now you've already said, Harsha, that you wanted two batsmen who could bowl a bit. One of them I presume is Ganguly...

Yes, I want Kapil Dev to tell Ganguly that in Australia, I want you to give me between eight and ten overs a day, I want two spells of four overs a day at least.

Okay, so Ganguly you've pencilled in as a batsman who has to give you ten overs every day.

Definitely at Melbourne and maybe at Adelaide as well.

Right. Now, you've still got seven batsmen that you're talking about. Again, to get back to composition, would you go with two openers or would you go with three?

Three. I'd go with three because both my opening batsmen are very young and inexperienced and I would like the Indian captain to have an option by the time the third Test comes around.

That brings up an interesting point. You are referring obviously to Ramesh and Gandhi as your two openers, so, let's say we pencil their names in, Ramesh goes in, Gandhi goes in...

You've got to. You've got to pick them, because they've done nothing wrong. Ramesh of course walks in, I get a bit irritated by all the criticism we've had about Ramesh, on the Rediff site we've got this fantastic interview with Ramesh which shows that he is a thinking cricketer, he is not a dumb batsman who goes out and bats, there's some thinking behind his cricket. And I'd like to see him fail before he is criticised, rather than assume he is going to fail and wait for him to fail, that's not fair. If he scored 750 runs in 7 Test matches he must have something, and I think it's unfair, I think he's done whatever has been asked of him so far and I'd pick him straight, he'd be one of the earliest players to be picked.

Yeah, it's rather surprising, there seems to be a question mark about whether he can play pace, he's played Younis, Akram and Akthar and how much pacier do they get anyway?

He's got a 50 in the World Cup, he played off Shoaib Akthar with ease in the match against Pakistan in the World Cup, and remember he's never been to England before. So I would not worry too much about Ramesh, I'd give him three Test matches whatever happened.

Would you be equally, shall we say, hundred per cent sure about Gandhi?

He's a strokeplayer, and he plays a lot of shots off the back foot, which will help in Australia.

And again, you've got to be fair to cricketers. You've put Gandhi in, he's done all that has been asked of him, he couldn't have done better. So you've put him in, he's delivered what you wanted, you cannot say hang on, he's succeeded in India, how do you know he will succeed in Australia? How do you know, unless you put him there? He's succeeded here, so you put him there.

Okay so we're saying Gandhi goes in by default -- frankly, I do have some sort of reservations about that, but then you did say that they are picking a third opener precisely for that kind of situation, where one of them might not come up to expectation, fine. So who would this third opener be, would he be someone who can open but who can also bolster your middle order if necessary...

I'd pick that opener last... You've got three from my list written down, Tendulkar is four...

You've got Dravid, right, you've got him at three, there's no questions asked about that at all, that is one of the automatic ones, you've got Tendulkar down at four.

Right, now this leaves us with five batsmen. I don't seem to remember an occasion in since I started covering cricket where I wanted to pick eight batsmen and after picking five, one of which is Gandhi, I suddenly asked myself hang on, who are the next three?

Alright, hang on, we've got after Tendulkar we've also got Ganguly, that's five..

Which leaves three.

So effectively, what you are saying is if India go in with six batsmen which I suspect they'll tend to do more often than not, you've already made the point about India doesn't back its batting lineup too much, so you actually now need a regular for the playing eleven plus two spare batsmen, one of whom can open. Okay, so fine, who's number six?

I'd pick Vijay Bharadwaj on the strength of a thousand runs in Ranji Trophy, and on his ability to give me five or six, eight overs a day... to give me two three overs on batting tracks, in the Sydney Test I wouldn't want to pick three spinners because that would change my balance completely, I'd pick two spinners and I would want someone to give me ten or twelve overs a day. So on the basis of the value he provides the team and on the fact that he is turning out to be a good, committed fielder, I would pick Bharadwaj.

So you've made the point earlier about wanting two batsmen who could bowl a bit, you've now got Saurav Ganguly and Vijay Bharadwaj doing that for you, presumably even Sachin Tendulkar turning his arm over as and when he felt in the mood... but do you think Sachin should be bowling more often?

I think it's a call he has to take. I don't know what the bowling does to his back. But if it doesn't affect his back, I would definitely want Sachin to bowl his mix of spin for at least a spell a day.

So effectively, in a 90 over day, you've got Ganguly bowling eight to ten, you've got Bharadwaj, conditions permitting, somewhere close to six, eight and you've got Sachin maybe giving you four, six, whatever, so this is 20 overs taken care of, leaving 70 for the lead bowlers...

It might even be, it might be 75, 80 for the lead bowlers.

So you've got your six batsmen in the playing eleven down, you now need two other batsmen...

Yes, now I thought, I debated one position greatly and that was Ajay Jadeja. Now, the person I would consider for Jadeja would be Azharuddin. People do point to the fact that he doesn't have a great record in Australia. Now I would pick Azharuddin only if I was sure that he would make the grade. Because there is nothing that I need to know about Azharuddin, I would not want to see how he plays against New South Wales, and I don't think that is a luxury that this team management is going to afford...

In other words, what you are saying is that you wouldn't pick Azhar as a 'does he come into the side or not' marginal, you would pick him only if he is making the playing eleven...

I would.

Where would the doubt be about whether he can make the playing eleven?

The doubts would be that he hasn't got a great record in Australia, he had a fantastic century in Adelaide in 1991, he didn't get too many runs either in 1986 where he got a 60 not out in the last Test match, didn't look like scoring too many runs in 1991-'92, where he was also going through a lot of pressure, he had a lot of former captains in his team, anyway, whatever... all that is forgotten when you go out to bat, you can't say I was under pressure so I couldn't score runs. And, the fact that you have not picked him in the three Test matches here. If you had, you would have judged for yourselves whether he was back from injury, you'd have had all the answers, but given the fact that you haven't allowed yourself to get those answers, I wouldn't pick him. And I would pick Jadeja for a couple of reasons, I'd pick Jadeja because I suspect the team management likes his inputs into the game as well... I think he has the experience to bat at six if necessary...

As a back room boy is what you are talking about...

Also as a backroom boy, because I still believe he can bat at six for me. Not the fact that number six has to face the new ball and Jadeja has been an opener -- I think the fact that Jadeja has been an opener is a forgotten chapter in Indian cricket. But I would still back Jadeja with his experience, to bat at six, his experience, and the fact that he will not get overawed by situations because he has been around for a long time. So Jadeja would be my number seven batsman because he would provide me a strong bench...

Okay... Just sticking with this question for a minute, Harsha, there's this one curious thing that came up in email, a friend had emailed me, he said, if he was playing selector he would pick Azhar for a very quirky reason, in Azhar's career, he's got this record of, whenever he's dropped, he comes back like nobody's business... and this guy said, look, I mean, I'd look at it two ways, it is pretty much Azhar's swansong, if he gets it, he will want to prove a point or two, and Azhar wanting to prove a point would be someone I would want in my playing eleven. Now what's your take on that?

Now I would want him in the eleven as well. I would want him in the eleven, but I am not sure the team management will give him an atmosphere that would be conducive for him to play in the eleven.

So we are taking the less risky way out...

Also, Azhar in the eleven batting at six not anywhere higher, would leave Bharadwaj out, which puts a bit of a load on Ganguly as a fifth bowler. I think he should be there, but I dont think he will be there. It's a curious mix, I don't know if I am picking my team or a team that should be picked, but I don't think he will be in the side because I don't think he will get the atmosphere that's conducive to him.

Okay, so effectively, you've pencilled in Jadeja as your seventh batsman, and now there's just one left, a batsman who can open for you, or...

Yeah, I thought about two players for the eighth batting slot, I thought about Laxman who is a captain's favourite, funnily both captains in recent times have wanted him, I know Tendulkar has got a very high regard for Laxman's batting, he gives you an opening option which is to me honestly something I am not comfortable with because I think Laxman is a very very valuable player down the order, I wouldn't put too much store on his offspin but he is a very good close in catcher, which again is not a big factor in Australia because you won't get too much of bat-pad, but you'd want someone who can open if it comes to that. If Gandhi struggles you would want someone...

Effectively, you would want someone who can open, and who can walk into the middle order and hold a rightful place...

I would honestly consider... I would give Gandhi two Test matches anyway, and I would in a situation like that put Mongia in, in a Test match if it came to that. So Laxman from that point of view. And the other batsman, who is a good gritty player, and you need grit in Australia, is Hrishikesh Kanitkar. He had a good series against the West Indies A, he stood up to the fast bowlers, admittedly on Indian tracks, there's been word going around that he doesn't have a big enough heart, I am not very sure of that, he bats three regularly for his state side, to me he is a solid batsman, he does bowl off spin but that is Under-19 level offspin, I wouldn't put too much store on his offspin bowling, decent catcher, but I would consider all things and I would give the captain the choice, and I suspect the captain would vote for Laxman, so I would have Laxman in my team as my 16th player.

Right. So effectively you've got the team pretty much picked, you've got a question mark over the wicket-keeper, giving the choice of Mongia or Prasad to the captain...

On the question of attitude alone...

Right. You've got Srinath, Prasad, Mohanty and Ganesh as your four seamers with Harvinder Singh Sodhi as your dark horse, you've got Kumble, Harbajan and Joshi going in, by default, Nikhil Chopra, interesting option but for various reasons not in, you've got a batting lineup of Ramesh, Gandhi, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Bharadwaj, with the wicket-keeper in at seven, Jadeja on the bench and a choice of Laxman or Kanitkar, which again you are giving to the captain.

Yes, but if I was captain, Laxman would be that choice.

So let's not sit on the fence, let's say Laxman, right. So we have Jadeja taking the preference over Azhar, and we've got Laxman taking preference over Kanitkar, among the people discussed. You've got your wish list, pretty much, you've got three possible openers, you've got two batsmen who can bowl a bit as the match situation warrants, and you've got a solid middle order...

See, Prem, again the reason I am picking Jadeja over Azhar is the same reason I have that question mark over Mongia. I see no problem with Azhar's attitude, but if it is going to disturb the captain or the coach, and if it is then going to become an issue in the dressing room, then I think we should give it to the captain and the coach because they are the men out there. And that is why I am not picking Azhar in this side.

That's pretty much the team selection done, Harsha, and I don't think we spent as much time over it as the selectors do. But there is one thing bothering me, Harsha, looking at the schedule, we've got a three day match, and then we have a one day match, it doesn't give you any time to judge, you've got a lot of marginals in here, you are sure of Ramesh, going in, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, but you need Bharadwaj to get a few in the middle ahead of the Test match if you are backing him to play, you need Gandhi to really find his feet out there, you need practise games. How many times is India going to end up on the losing side of a Test series -- I am not saying we are going to lose this one -- how many more times is India going to go in hamstrung because the board does not realise the importance of enough warm up games?

I think it's a fact of modern life. I think Steve Waugh's statement yesterday about Wasim Akram's comments being pretty stupid really -- it is a very Aussie expression, pretty stupid really, I think it is a problem the Aussies also face when they come to the sub-continent, I think they got two warm up games actually, I'd pretty much pick the Test team for the first warm up game, and look at what's happening, and give another opener a go, give another fast bowler a go, I am surprised you didn't ask me about the second wicket keeper, but I think you need more options in batting and bowling...

I did think about the second wicket keeper, one thing I am very sure of is I would hate to see Dravid go out with the gloves on, because he is going to be a very valuable player out there, but if you pick a second wicket keeper...

One of my openers... I'd pick seven batsmen, I think Laxman will go out if they want a second wicket-keeper. But given it is a three Test series and not a five Test series, I'd go with one keeper. I'd do a couple of things as well. The selectors have picked a team for the first two one dayers. I'd then look at a few options.

I'd give Dravid time with his family. I know he is an intense cricketer, I know he is going to think a lot about the tour, I'd give him, people like Dravid and Ganguly, I'd pick Tendulkar in the team of course because he will want to know how the others are shaping, I'd give people like Ganguly, Dravid, time to go off and be with their families, and train by themselves, as committed cricketers, I'd like to give Dravid the option of going to the KSCA Stadium and getting someone to bowl to him off eighteen yards...

Or even going to the MRF Academy..

Or go to the MRF Academy, get himself ready for that tour if he wants to, generally get his mind off playing on slow wickets against inadequate bowling attacks... I'd actually send Bharadwaj to spend a week with Prasanna. Because Bharadwaj has been a batsman all his life, he likes bowling but he's a batsman and now you want him to bowl off spin as well, and I'd like him to spend a week with Prasanna, bat in the nets, but then go and spend an hour with Prasanna, and start thinking off spin, which I don't think he does at the moment... I think a little chink in his bowling action, get it straighter, just think off spin, just the odd trick the old man can teach and he's got lots of tricks, Prasanna told me last week he turns the ball more than any other off spinner in Karnataka today. But I'd like him to go and spend a week there.

And Joshi, a week with Bedi...

Maybe, but he's done that already. But Bharadwaj, really, because I see Bharadwaj as being in the playing eleven, I don't see Joshi being in the playing eleven at the moment. So I'd look at a couple of those options...

Yeah, basically rest some of the players who don't need the hassle of playing one day cricket, Srinath for instance who is going to have a tremendous amount of work to do, maybe even Kumble, he could just shake this off, spend time with his family, he's newly married...

I think so, it's going to be two and a half months in Australia, so I'd look at those things as well...

Right then, Harsha, see you on tour...

Yeah, right...

Harsha Bhogle