VVS Laxman is not at all happy about being "rested" for the ODI series against Bangladesh. And justifiably so. Laxman has always been the favourite sacrificial lamb when it comes to ODIs. This is absolutely preposterous. Why, the man has scored 4 centuries in ODIs this year !!! 3 of them were match-winning efforts and the fourth match was lost in the last over !!! Also these were big matches, 2 against Australia in the VB series, 1 in the decider against Pakistan and 1 against Zimbabwe when India were 3 down for 4 or something like that. And it is not as if he is playing particularly worse than any other batsman this season. Why just in the last match he scored a superb 43 off 44 balls !!!
One of the rumoured reasons for the hesitation over Laxman in ODIs is his fielding: well, since when did fielding become a criterion in Indian cricket ? If so how do the likes of Nehra come anywhere near the squad ?
Also, reports indicate that Anil Kumble was also not very keen on being rested. Come on, guys, do not treat the great man with such indignity. It is true that it would be better for Kumble to concentrate on Tests rather than ODIs at this stage; but that decision should be made voluntarily, not enforced upon him. If he wants to play, he is definitely good enough and merits a place in the side.
Selecting a player like Sridharan Sriram over VVS Laxman is like selecting an ugly duckling over a royal swan. Mediocrity over Excellence. It is a shame.
Maybe like the royal swan, Laxman is just too good for the ODI game where class is not always the basic requirement, unlike in Test match cricket. Maybe ODI cricket does not deserve people like him.
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2 comments:
I agree. Laxman deserves a far better treatment than this!..and so does kumble...I'm sure he too would be eager to go to bangladesh to go past kapil's record.
Lets just hope that such challenges inspire them on to greater deeds and let meaningless matches against bangladesh be a chance for (average) people like Tendulkar, Ganguly etc to improve their stats :-)
Even Steve Waugh was coaxed to reire from ODIs but not in this sour fashion. Just another example of how shambolic this thing called BCCI is.
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