For last couple of days I was thinking about Parvez
Rasool - lower middle order batsman and off spinner - hailing from Kashmir. He
was selected to Indian team for recent Zimbabwe tour; but didn’t make in to playing
eleven.
There may be many others who suffered similar fate. What
made this young cricketer’s case different is the blatant criticism from
various fronts.
Omar Abdullah tweeted "Did you really have to take
him all the way to Zimbabwe to demoralise him?? Wouldn't it have been cheaper
to just do it at home???".”Really disappointed that Parvez Rasool hasn't
been given a game in Zimbabwe. Come on BCCI give the young man a chance to
prove himself."
From Shashi Taroor- "Greatly disappointed that
Parvez Rasool not playing today. Bizarre selection. Could easily have rested
Jadeja&Raina for Rasool&Rahane". "What's the point leading
4-0 if you can't give every member of the touring team a chance to play at
least once by reshuffling the deck now?"
Their primary arguments is - India won first four matches
in the ODI series so they could have played Parvez in the last one (India won last
match as well). Many others were also commenting
on similar lines. Several others took it to the next level and made it Kashmir
issue by giving political overtones.
Why people are taking this as a political issue? It is
good to hear that a person from Kashmir became part of Team India. In last Ranji
season he scored 594 runs and took 33 wickets. Selectors took him mainly because
of this performance and 7 wickets in an innings against Australian team
visiting India.
But, who should be there in playing eleven is the discretion
of Captain and team management, isn’t it? Shall we force them to take him in because
he is from Kashmir? They may have a number of reasons as well - feel good
factor, spreading sporting spirit across J&K, consideration for J&K
etc. But then the same rules are applicable for people from insurgent hit NE
India, Maoist hit Central -East India etc. What about people from SC/ST/OBC/OEC
etc? Shall we compel BCCI and team captain to take them to playing eleven
because they are so and so or because they are from so and so places?
You can say “wasn't it good to include him at least in
the last match?” Probably yes. But again, it's captain’s decision. Team selection
should be based on the strategy of team management and captain. It should not
have anything to do with Parvez being from Kashmir or not.
In the absence of any discrimination he suffered because
he from so and so place there is no need to make this hue and cry, especially
by politicians. He played well in Ranji, he made it to Team India as well –
without any political games. If he is going well in the coming months as well
then there is no doubt that he will become part of playing eleven.
Wishing him all the best, may he be able to reach the top
echelons of Indian sports.
Sajeev.
References
No comments:
Post a Comment