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| Poor preparations cause J&K's dismal show in Vijay Hazare | | | RAJESH DHAR
JAMMU, Mar 1: By losing all five matches, the Jammu and Kashmir senior cricket team drew blank in the North Zone Vijay Hazare One-Day Tournament, which concluded at Delhi yesterday.
Though, the state team received a heavy thrashing at the hands of formidable Delhi, yet the narrow losses against the other four teams of Services, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have put a question mark on the wisdom of the 'team management', which included the legendary Bishen Singh Bedi also. The management failed to field the best possible eleven (XI) in almost all five matches and the batting order was utterly, utterly poor.
What was shocking rather shameful to observe was that the right-arm seam bowler Sameer Ali was simply a 'tour boy' and returned back without playing a single game and that too when the medium pacers, except Ram Dayal, displayed a dismal show.
Was Sameer there just to fit the bill is a million dollar question, rather a question which needs a serious introspection. This unfortunate cricketer has been the victim of such jaundiced policies and polluted scheme of things many a time.
Moreover, Ian Dev Singh, a passionate opener, who was a great success in four-day matches was not sent as an opener and used at different places and that too while chasing modest totals, which simply was rubbish.
Debutant Shubam Khajuria, after hitting brief but handsome 18 runs including four classical boundaries against the likes of Ashish Nehra and Pradeep Sangwan, was omitted from the playing XI against low profile Services in the next game, just for the sake of change, to give way to someone favourite to the team management. Such a custom always bruises psyche of the players, not to talk of the youngsters like Shubam.
Parvez Rasool, who is basically a batting all-rounder is being given the role of a bowling all-rounder and such a practice made J&K to suffer against Punjab, when he went out of partners, coming in at number nine and the team fell just short of 14 runs. His unbeaten 51 runs went in vain in that match.
Morover, playing Aditya Pratap Singh in the team and sending him at number eight slot, while chasing a paltry total of 199 runs carries no sense.
Using irregular and part-time bowlers before the genuine ones was another unwise rather foolish act.
Furthermore, if Majid Dar or even Samiullah Beigh are picked in the party, then what is the sin of the likes of Vijay Sharma, who had a bag of 17 wickets against 11 bagged by Samiullah, when he along with Majid, Arshid and others, was omitted from the squad. Otherwise, J&K has yet to find a replacement for this quality all-rounder.
What was the team management doing? Was it buying time and pooling money? Or, it was doing a 'pleasing' as also a 'balancing' act. If such is the mantra to compose teams and send batting orders, then miracles only can save Jammu and Kashmir from the jaws of defeats.
Anyway, if you have no mettle to understand the psyche of the players and take hundred percent out of them, you never deserve a place in the management. For that matter, Bedi, yet give his 'guru mantra' a practical shape and yet to prove his mettle with regard to making J&K win at the higher levels, falls in the same league. Hiring him without much success on a huge amount of money is to flog a dead horse rather to cry for the moon.
However, apart from all these negatives, there have been some positives through this tournament.
Firstly, the margin of the defeats in four of the five matches that J&K played in Vijay Hazare trophy was very low and with a bit of luck and 'man management' the matches the matches could have gone on either side.
Secondly, J&K bowlers, led by left-arm spinner Raman Dutta, who had a big haul of wickets in this tournament, speedster Ram Dayal and off-spinner Parvez Rasool restricted the rivals teams to modest totals. Among the batsmen skipper Hardeep Singh and the come-back man Arshid Bhatt showed some consistency.
At the end of the day, hiring Bedi on a huge amount and failing to script a single win, out of as many as 15 games in the season, with five each in shortest, longest and One-Day format, does not set 'Thames on Fire' rather puts a question mark on the functioning of the team management.
Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) rather than going by name and fame, needs to be more practical in the future. |
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