Give the young Indians a chance first!

May 11,2009 | Abbas Ali Baig

Among the multitude of suggestions recently made by the much hailed Aussie coach and guru, the latest one asking for the raising of the number of foreign players per team from four to five deserves the same treatment as did his earlier ones, including the one assigning four captains per team, viz chuck it in the nearest waste paper basket.

How absurd for a domestic Indian league tournament to include such a large contingent of foreign players in each team when one of its fundamental precepts is to expose and encourage promising young Indian talent to play against the best in the world. And the fact that Glenn Mcgrath ,brought into the fold with such fanfare, has not even played a single match in the on- going series and Jess Rider , one of the most outstanding recent entrants in the International arena, has been reduced to warming the benches , only confirms the futility of this outlandish idea.

In retrospect, not too many of the other imported players have really left, as yet, any indelible mark on the proceedings except, perhaps old faithfuls like Hayden and Gilchrist and to some extent the( subcontinental) trio of Jayasuria, Jayawardhene and Malinga.To be fair though, late entrants like Lee and Symonds have started off promisingly enough but have not played enough to underline their true long term worth to their teams.

And, on the other hand, there are a number of young and relatively untried Indian players who have adapted themselves admirably and have proved to be an asset to their respective sides (even if some who had excelled last year appear not to have lived up to their earlier promise).A few that come quickly to mind are Jakati,Rahane,N. Ojha, T.Suman and Amit Singh and Nanda looks like a good prospect.

In the meantime, the battle for the semi- final berth is really hotting up with the Punjab Team pipping the leaders, Deccan Chargers at the post in their last encounter and Chennai Super Kings scoring a convincing win over Rajasthan Royals. Teams Delhi,Chennai,Jaipur and Hyderabad appear close to sealing their positions but it would be foolish to write off Mumbai (whose team selection had temporarily gone haywire with the dropping of Jayasuria but whose confidence must be boosted with their defeat of the Royal Challengers) and Punjab, now flush with the return of Lee and their close victory over Deccan Chargers, but handicapped if the linchpin of their middle order, Jayawardhane’s injury plays up in the next few days.

The concluding few days indeed promise some exciting fare and there are bound to be some surprises and upsets. Keeping your cool, building partnerships and up-to-the standard fielding have to be the current mantra.