I can imagine one of the most challenging jobs in cricket is picking a squad. Many variables make selecting the best group of cricketers is not easy. Injury, unavailability for non-cricketing reasons, loss of form, the form of others and so on can impact the players you choose.
While it is never easy, you can be accountable for your
reasons; sometimes, it is a gut feeling where you feel that because of the
conditions or the opposition, a player will impact. That is totally fine. I
accept those decisions, and most selectors around the world would tell you just
that.
With every job in cricket, there comes accountability.
Selecting a team should be no different. That makes the announcement of the
latest India women’s squad all the more strange. Some high profile players are
missing from the squad to play South Africa at the start of next month. We are
none the wiser for the omission of some and the selection of others.
This can be dangerous in the sense that without reason,
speculation will always take its place. Transparency helps not just the team
and selectors but the public that supports the team.
It came as a surprise when Ekta Bisht, Shikha Pandy, Veda
Krishnamurthy and Taniya Bhatia were all dropped for the India squad announced today.
These are players that have helped India become one of the best women’s
international teams.
India may have lost both World Cup finals the have qualified
for in the last three years, but they have had the players to get them there.
They nearly won the World Cup final in front of a packed Lord’s, so to get rid
of players pivotal in their rise without explanation is bizarre.
Some commentators know the Indian game far better than I
could ever imagine to are outraged by today’s news. It isn’t so much that the
players who have made the squad don’t deserve to have their chance on the big
stage; it is how the BCCI has bungled the whole thing.
Women’s cricket is a serious business around the world.
India were on the verge of winning a World Cup, yet the powers that be seem to
treat not just the international team but also the prospect of a Women’s IPL as
an afterthought.
Better planning and more consideration from the top levels
would have seen India the number one team in the world right now. Australia and
England do not have the same resources to keep up with a properly supported
India Women’s team.
I have felt the frustrations of so many today. They have and
will be able to articulate their anger than I ever could.
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