No harm in dropping the veterans: Prasanna

Kolkata, December 4 Former Indian off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna Thursday backed the selectors' decision to keep out five seasoned campaigners from the 30-member cricket World Cup probables squad.

The offie felt the selectors' decision could have been prompted by the below-par domestic performances of these players.

"There is no harm in dropping the veterans from the squad. They have not quite performed in domestic cricket and have been out of ODIs for so long," the 74-year-old told IANS over phone.

On dropping big names like Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh, Prasanna stated that the team has been built keeping in mind the current form and performances of players and not the reputation that one carries along.

"The team has been picked based on the performances of individuals and not on mere reputation," he added.

Prasanna also said the Indian team management should field the young guns in the World Cup being jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand Feb 14-March 29.

"I would rather play youngsters in Australia having raw talent, because it is not about the 2015 cup anymore, you have to make stars out of these guys for 2019," he said.

The 2019 cricket World Cup will be held in England and Wales.