Arjun Tendulkar's selection in U-14 raises questions of nepotism

January 13, 2013

Arjun_TendulkarMumbai, Jan 13: With several lesser performers making it into the Mumbai Under-14 team for the West Zone league matches, parents of many talented youngsters are virtually up in arms. Some of them have laid the charge of nepotism, even questioning the entire selection process adopted by the MCA.

Among the most inexplicable exclusions is Don Bosco (Matunga ) School's Bhupen Lalwani: his unbeaten 398 against IES Modern School in the Giles Shield (Elite Division) should have made him an automatic choice. His knock came off 277 deliveries, was studded with 47 boundaries and even caught the eye of the connoisseurs. "I definitely expected my son to be picked in the team," Lalwani's disappointed father told TOI on Saturday. "But maybe, the selectors found somebody more deserving than him to represent Mumbai," he added sagely.

Another glaring case in point is Hansraj Morarji spinner Satyak Patel. He had picked up 6-100 against Anjuman Urdu in the Giles Shield, in addition to three five-wicket hauls in the Under-16 Harris Shield Plate 'B' division, including 5-12 in the final against Dhirubhai Ambani International School, that helped his team earn promotion into the Elite group. Satyak has taken 25 wickets in the Harris Shield this season.

"I am unable to understand the criterion of selection. Satyak has been doing well all season. Besides his Giles and Harris Shield displays, he took 19 wickets in the Ramakant Achrekar Dronacharya Cup to help Chandrakant Pandit Cricket Club (CPCC) clinch the trophy for the first time since its inception 12 years ago. His name is still missing from the list," Satyak's father Rajiv said.

In contrast, the inclusion of three VN Sule Guruji students (see box) — Akash Savla, Darshan Padawe and Tanush Kotian — and two from Anjuman-e-Islam — Azim Shaikh and Abhishek Shetty — who have hardly done anything of note this season, raises some serious questions. What's more, there are five kids in the team, whose school cricket records were untraceable, adding mystery to their selection.

Parents are also surprised at the presence of Arjun Tendulkar, son of batting legend Sachin. His best score, 124, had come last May in the Mumbai Under-14 trials for Khar Gymkhana against Goregaon Centre; his next best is a 70, scored last week for Shastri XI in the Vengsarkar Foundation Cup at Mahul.

Considering that a triple centurion, four double centurions and nine hundred-makers in the Elite group have not made the mark, their parents have reason to feel short-changed.

Attempts to garner a response from the MCA went in vain as joint secretary PV Shetty didn't respond to the calls and messages sent by this paper.

Giving credence to the parents ' woes, former Mumbai coach Pravin Amre said that the selectors need to closely observe all age-group matches in order to avoid missing good talent. "In my time, proper data was maintained in junior cricket and I was lucky to have a couple of former India players as selectors. Today, they are paid for doing the job too and are not just honorary officials. So they need to go to the maidan and watch matches," Amre said.

He, however, argued that one good performance cannot determine talent, and that many other factors are considered before selection. "I have been an Under-15 selector myself. You can't give someone a chance just because he hit a century or picked up five wickets. The opponents, the stage of the tournament also needs to be taken into account. Sometimes a good 50-60 in a close game can identify the best from the rest," he added.

IN A NUTSHELL...

Questionable selections

Akash Savla (VN Sule Guruji School) - played one match scoring 48 runs against IES Modern English

Darshan Padawe (VN Sule) - played three matches scoring 33, 0, 26

Tanush Kotian (VN Sule) - played one match scoring 8 runs against Shardashram

Azim Shaikh (Anjuman-i-Islam ) - Scored 28, 21, 37, 18 in four matches and picked just one wicket as an off-spinner

Abhishek Shetty (Anjuman-i-Islam ) - played one match scoring 4 & 18 in two innings against VN Sule

RECORDS MISSING

Hashir Dafedar, Manas Raikar, Jay Dave, Jahangir Ansari, Yash Joshi

Who deserved a chance

BATSMEN

Bhupen Lalwani (Don Bosco School, Matunga) - his unbeaten 398 (277b, 47x4s) against IES Modern English was the highlight of the Giles Shield season Pushkar Vashist (Al Barakat) - slammed 261 (274b, 36x4s) against BAK Swadhyay Satyalaksha Jain (Rizvi Springfield) - hit 239 (200b, 40x4s) against MD Bhatia Yasasvi Jayaswal (Anjuman Urdu) - hit 210 (210b, 28x4s, 4x6s) against Hansraj Morarji Shoaib Khan (Al Barakat) - scored 212 (183b, 31x4s) and 140 against Don Bosco and BAK Swadhyay respectively

BOWLERS

Rohit Desai (Don Bosco School, Matunga) - the off-spinner picked 6-22 and 5-11 against IES Modern English and scalped 5-137 against Al Barakat Satyak Patel (Hansraj Morarji) - the spinner took 6-100 against Anjuman Urdu and picked three fivewicket hauls in Harris Shield plate division with his 5-12 against Dhirubhai Ambani International School helping his side earn promotion Rajesh Sardar (Al Barakat, leftarm spinner) - picked 6-22 against BAK Swadhyay and 5-18 against Don Bosco

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 6,2020

Sydney, Jan 6: Nathan Lyon captured five for 50 and 10 match wickets as Australia crushed New Zealand by 279 runs on Monday, capping a golden domestic summer as they swept the three-Test series.

The off-spinner led the powerful Australian bowling attack to dismiss the Kiwis for 136 and seal another heavy win over the Black Caps after similar victories in Perth and Melbourne.

Australia have been unbeatable this season, winning all five Tests at home -- two against Pakistan and three against New Zealand -- after retaining the Ashes by drawing the series 2-2 in England.

"It's been a great summer for the Australian Test side," Lyon said.

"It's pretty special to be part of it, we have been impressive, pretty clinical, the batters have done well and given us bowlers plenty of time."

Australia declared their second innings at 217 for two with David Warner scoring an unbeaten century, leaving the Black Caps with a revised 416-run target in the fourth innings on a wearing Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.

But the Kiwis buckled under the pressure of Australia's superior bowling attack with Mitchell Starc taking three for 25 to support the wiles of spinner Lyon.

"They were clinical in all areas and after the first match they put us under pressure session after session," said skipper Kane Williamson, who missed the Test with a virus.

New Zealand were reeling early at 27-4 and never recovered after Starc and Lyon took two wickets each in the middle session to put the skids under the tourists.

Starc removed both openers, Tom Latham and Tom Blundell, in the first five overs. Blundell fell to a stunning catch by a diving Lyon at point for two and stand-in skipper Latham lost a review for leg before wicket.

Jeet Raval was out in a review to the faintest of edges on 'Snicko' in Lyon's first over for 12.

First-innings top-scorer Glenn Phillips went for a duck after technology detected a faint outside edge to wicketkeeper Paine off Lyon.

Taylor's Kiwi record

Ross Taylor became the leading all-time Kiwi batsman, going past Stephen Fleming (7,172) before he was bowled by Pat Cummins for 22 to take his Test aggregate to 7,174.

Big-hitting Colin de Grandhomme smacked Lyon for six to bring up his fifty but went next ball hoicking to Joe Burns at deep mid-wicket for 52.

Todd Astle was out to a superb diving catch by James Pattinson in the outfield for 17.

Starc yorked William Somerville's middle stump for seven and BJ Watling was the last to fall, caught at backward square leg by Pat Cummins for 19.

Earlier, Warner completed his 24th Test century and remained unbeaten when skipper Paine declared upon the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne.

"You know you're capable of doing so," Warner said, when asked about how he had bounced back from his disastrous Ashes campaign in England last year.

"I was in the nets hitting the ball well and had the skipper backing me. To be able to play with freedom helped me. It's all paying off."

Labuschagne, who was dropped on four in a regulation caught-and-bowled chance by leg-spinner Astle, was caught at long on off Matt Henry for 59 -- his seventh score over 50 in eight innings this domestic summer.

Labuschagne finished the home five-Test season with a stunning aggregate of 896 runs, made up of his 215 in the first innings, three other centuries and three half-centuries in eight innings.

There was drama late in the Australian innings when Warner was given an official warning by umpire Aleem Dar for running down the middle of the pitch in scampering a single.

It resulted in five penalty runs being added to New Zealand's first innings total meaning their target was revised down from 421 to 416.

The Test was played against the backdrop of one of Australia's most devastating bushfire seasons with at least 24 people losing their lives in blazes raging across the country, including on the outskirts of Sydney.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
March 7,2020

Melbourne, Mar 7: He will be supporting Australia for sure but former pacer Brett Lee feels an Indian victory in Sunday's T20 Word Cup final could be a "start of a major breakthrough" for the women's game in the cricket-mad country.

India and Australia will lock horns in what is expected to be a blockbuster title clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

"As an Australian, I'd love nothing more than for (Meg) Lanning's team to do the job. But if India were to win the World Cup for the first time, victory would do so much for women's cricket in a country that already adores the sport," Lee wrote in an ICC column.

"This could be the start of a major breakthrough, particularly with the amount of talent that is coming through."

The former speedster said Australia will have to look for ways to counter the in-form 16-year-old Shafali Verma.

"In Shafali Verma, India boast one of the most talented players in the world and you feel that for Australia to win the game, dismissing her will likely be their first job.

"I've been so impressed with the opener - it's staggering to believe she's only 16 with the confidence she has in her own ability and the way she strikes the ball so cleanly.

"She's such good fun to watch and I'm not sure the women's game has seen anyone like her for such a long time."

Shafali has been the star of the tournament, having amassed 161 runs at a strike rate of 161, consistently providing India solid starts, and that was not lost on Lee.

"To be the world's best T20 batter already shows just how far she has progressed in such a short space of time and the experience in this tournament will hold her in good stead for years to come.

"Even with the way she's played in Australia and her fearless brand of cricket, you still get the feeling she has more to come as well."

He reckoned Shafali may have another big score awaiting her.

"She's got a big score in her locker and there's probably no better place to do that than the MCG. Shafali is already a record breaker but if she can steer her side to their first Women's T20 World Cup title at just 16, then the sky really is the limit for her career."

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.