Mid-Day Opinion: India’s selectors must be complimented

By God what exciting finishes we have had this weekThere was the nailbiter in South Africa where the Proteas pulled a rabbit out of the hat beating the Aussies there was the tearing of hair Indian chase against New Zealand in the first T20 international and then there was the gobsmacking Sri Lankan chase of 429 against England somewhere in the neighbouring country All three wins against a troika that constitute the old powers in the game of cricket Yes these are early games and the end result of the series could be the opposite but it certainly gives a great deal of satisfaction when old powers are beaten and that too in the same weekSouth Africa is a beautiful country where therersquos still a bit of turmoil because though the cursed apartheid is done and dusted the mindset of some hasnrsquot changed It often reflects in the reportage of the game where questions are invariably asked about selection quotas and the failures of some So to see Temba Bavuma being hugged so warmly by Simon Harmer on getting one of the greatest Test match centuries of this century was truly heart meltingBavuma a terrific skipperBavumarsquos appointment as captain of the South African team came with the usual nudge nudge wink wink accusations of quota selection but over the years he has proven a terrific leader which is different from being a captain and with his own performances has made his doubters eat their own dirty words His record of winning 12 out of the 14 Tests he has captained The Proteas and losing only the first Test of the series is as stellar a record as that of Ajinkya Rahane under whom India never lost a Test Both are not chestthumpers nor do they have an army of PR to try and influence the world as to how good they are Bavumarsquos demeanor on the field reminds so much of the much loved and admired Gundappa Viswanath who showed that to be a tough cricketer one doesnrsquot have to swear and rage against the worldIndiarsquos selectors are the favourite whipping boys of the keyboard PR army of some but they need to be complimented on their recent selections Bringing back Bhuvneshwar Kumar was one such and though he like the other bowlers also went for more than his usual economy rate doesnrsquot take away from the fact that the selectors looked at his performances and not his age Similarly the selection of Naman Dhir showed that selection is not always about numbers but spotting that little spark that can ignite into a raging fire Sure itrsquos early days for Dhir but his calm method and explosive finishes is just what the Indian team need at No 5 or 6 Not to forget his clever manipulation of line and length while bowling and his electric fielding making difficult catches look easy and saving runs in the deepGurnoor Brar is another whose selection brought about raised eyebrows but he has shown that at the Test level he can be the extra couple of yards required to trouble the best of batters Yes there will be failures as well but the important thing is to be able to see if therersquos stomach for a fight and that is not always seen in pure numbers but in short impactful periods of a game If only numbers were the guide then it would be easy to have statisticians and number crunchers as the selectors That brings me to where temperament or the lack of it almost derailed Sri Lankarsquos magnificent chase of a huge total set by England With a well set Liyanage batting at one end all that the lower order batters had to do was to try and give him more of the strike Instead they all went for the glory hit and predictably perished The point is if the batter could hit well then wouldnrsquot he be batting up the order and so to realise that itrsquos better to get to the other end where a wellset batter is waiting rather than going for the wild big hit needs temperamentTemperament is keyThe Aussie lower order batters showed that in the first Test match where the bowlers stubbornly held their own and helped Matt Renshaw take Australia to a matchwinning total Similarly the South African bowlers learning from the first Test played with great determination and helped skipper Bavuma to get South Africa to a score from where they didnrsquot have to bat again Temperament is what separates the men from the boys and if you have it then with a bit of luck success is guaranteed22813Naman Dhirrsquos strikerate in two T20Is vs NZ mdash the highest in the ongoing seriesOneNo of wickets claimed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the second T20I vs NZProfessional Management Group