Selectors can't ignore good fielders any more

mumbai: the national cricket selection committee, which meets here on monday to pick the one-day squad for sri lanka, will have to face some stark truths. that they cannot ignore good fielders for one-day cricket. that means they cannot ignore the likes of yuvraj singh and mohamed kaif for long. for his fielding alone yuvraj is worth his place in the side. look at the results of our games. either we win by a few or lose by a few. these few runs in the margin of defeats can easily be wiped put by picking players who field well above all else. one doesn't need to jog far down memory lane to search for instances when fielding probably cost us a match. for on saturday two overthrows cost india 12 runs and india eventually lost by 16 runs! imagine reetinder singh sodhi playing the final only because hemang badani was not well. the choice should have been between badani and laxman, with sodhi certain in the side. look at how sodhi responded. let's have guys like him who give a hundred per cent. imagine sodhi and yuvraj prowling in the covers! and kaif and robin singh? imagine the options aplenty for the skipper. yuvraj was kept out because he did not do justice to his potential after that hair-raising innings against the aussies in kenya. there isn't anything wrong in that. the player had lost track of his priorities as big time caught up with him overnight. he needed counselling. he has got it during his stint at the bangalore camp of the national cricket academy, where he is training at the moment. from all accounts coach kenia jayantilal has been giving him special attention when he accompained india player sairaj bahutule to the academy. jayantial has obeserved that yuvraj has cut out the frills and plays into the `v'. and jayantilal has got him to bowl 12-over spells. should yuvraj come back to the side he will do so as a much more purposeful bowler than before. rod marsh, on seeing yuvraj at bangalore, is reported to have said that something was wrong with indian cricket if players like yuvraj were on the bench. if yuvraj has to come in, it will have to be at the expense of his punjab teammate dinesh mongia. his return means addition of variety to the bowling as there was no left-arm spinner in the recent party. what other changes can one expect? all depends on the physio's report. if ajit agarkar isn't full fit, then another bowler has to be looked at. robin singh could be one option if the aim is to win the series and break the drought of title wins. another is sanjay bangar. it is said that bangar's name was among the 25 probables for the last tour but was struck out and dinesh mongia's was added as an afterthought. all those who performed in domestic cricket have been rewarded with selection except bangar. the railways allrounder is rare type who opens batting and bowling for his side--do we have any other genuine allrounder around? with a precise and not so hurried run-up he bowls outswingers. in batting he can drop anchor as well as slog as he proved two years ago to be man of the series in the wills trophy. president's xi skipper azhar was highly impressed with bangar but injury dogged him after that, causing him to miss the challenger series. but he came back strongly last year with 551 runs and 15 wickets to push his claims further. like agarkar's there is the fitness of laxman and badani has to considered also. with three tests to be played on the trot from august 14, it doesn't seem a great idea to expose laxman, with his tender finger, during the one-day series, or for that matter harbhajan singh, another trump card. mohamed kaif has been waiting in the wings for too long without a trial. if people are concerned about the demotivation of yuvraj, while sitting on the sidelines, one has time to think what kaif must feel after being rated a supremly fit player even by australian standards and fittest of our lot? okay with the big four being there in the test line-up he has to wait. but why not try him out in one-dayers? if shewag has been tried, why not kaif who can also send down gentle offspinners like the delhi man? indian coach john wright expressed concern for the likes of kaif who were big losers because the bcci has forgotten about the concept of a team tours. the a team had a blank year last sason and there have been just two tours to pakistan and west indies (in december 1999, the last series for the `a' team) in a decade. in stark contrast, the pakistan a team tours every year and is in sri lanka at the moment. which of the other probables for the last tour can make it? nineteen of the 26 got their chances. those who didn't were kaif, yuvraj, rahul sanghavi, rakesh patel and ajay ratra and deep dasgupta. the last two are keepers and will have some wait as sameer dighe has more than justified the faith of the selectors who ended the rein of vijay dahiya. dighe scored in every tour game and in hindsight esepcailly after the gutsy 94 not out in the final one can say that if he had not been promoted to open in the second innings, he may have won the second test for india. if, after selection on monday, the selectors don't chase trains and hang on to ponder on a few issue. they might reflect of the makeshift opening combination forced by s.ramesh's injury and look afresh at the alternatives. if they have done some homework and checking out with those who matter in junior cricket, they will find that vinayak mane is one player who needs to be picked right away. it is said mane was offered to the skipper for the last tour but he went in for the extra paceman. the moral of this story should not be lost on the worthies who pick the side on monday.