From rxpgnews.com
Chappell, manager agree on youngsters in their reports
By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, IANS,
Apr 6, 2007 - 9:30:11 PM
Mumbai, April 6 - The Indian cricket board may now have no choice but to try more youngsters in the senior side after coach Greg Chappell and World Cup team manager Sanjay Jagdale concurred on the issue in their reports.
It has been an issue that Chappell, who resigned Wednesday, has been pursuing vehemently for a long time.
And now, Jagdale, a former first-class player who also happens to be a long-time Chappell admirer, has agreed in his World Cup report tabled Friday morning at the stocktaking meeting with Board of Control for Cricket in India - president Sharad Pawar.
'He emphasised the need to promote youngsters and concentrate on fitness and strength for the team to do well in fielding and running between wickets,' a release from the BCCI said about Chappell's report.
About Jagdale's report, it said: 'He too was of the opinion that the youngsters should be inducted to improve our cricket.'
Chappell's basic demand has been to induct more youngsters to replace ageing players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and some others.
In reality, it was the utter failure of the world's strongest batting line-up, comprising the likes of Tendulkar, Ganguly, captain Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, that led to India's unexpected first round exit from the World Cup in the West Indies.
India lost two of the three group matches, including the one to Bangladesh, and failed to progress to the second round.
Chappell had been backing young players like Sreesanth, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik and Rudra Pratap Singh. But except for Karthik, none was picked for the World Cup by the Dilip Vengsarkar-led selection committee.
After the team was selected, Vengsarkar disclosed that Sehwag was picked for the World Cup only on the insistence of Dravid, otherwise he would have been dropped.
Vengsarkar was present in the meeting when Chappell's and Jagdale's reports were tabled before the BCCI office bearers Friday.
On his part, Vengsarkar felt that the team did not perform to their potential in the World Cup.
'He was of the opinion that we should strengthen our domestic cricket and that we have a pool of 25-30 cricketers from which the Indian team could be selected,' said the BCCI quoting the former India captain.
Now, it remains to be seen how much the Pawar-led BCCI, which is known for avoiding hard and tough decisions over the decades, heeds to the reports of the national coach and manager, and suggestions from a host of other people whom matter in Indian cricket.
Or will these reports meet the same fate as those of previous years and decades? The onus is on the BCCI to act.
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