5 debatable decisions taken by the current Indian selectors

Being India's national selectors is perhaps the toughest job in world cricket. Team selections in Indian cricket have always been a catch-22 situation, as it is extremely difficult to find the perfect team balance and please the fans and cricket community at the same time.

The current selection committee led by former India wicket-keeper MSK Prasad has been under the scanner after every team selection. While they have been dodging the bullet for a long time, the decisions made by the selection committee in the last couple of months have left the fans scratching their heads.

The current selection committee lacks conviction in it's methods and decisions and have often been found changing it's own stance. There have also been instances where players have spoken about a lack of communication with the selectors. Even though Prasad has denied any such allegations, there can't be smoke without fire. The recent Test team selection for the challenging tour of Australia and T20 team selections for the series against West Indies and Australia has raised questions over the selection policies as well.

We will look at 5 such debatable decisions taken by the current selection committee in the recent past.

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#5 Dropping Shami from the ODI side while persisting with Umesh Yadav

Shami looked sharp in his second spell in the second ODI

Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav were selected in the ODI side for the series against West Indies. Both the pacers, who have been preferred more in Tests, were given a chance to prove their ODI credentials against West Indies. While none of them did exceptionally well in the first two ODIs, to the surprise of many, Shami was dropped from the side for the remainder of the series, while Umesh Yadav made the cut.

Shami gave away 140 runs in the two matches while picking up 3 wickets, Umesh gave away 142 runs picking up just a single wicket. Shami was wayward in the first ODI, but was excellent in his second spell in the second ODI and along with the spinners, helped India snatch a tie from the jaws of defeat.

Umesh on the other hand looked flat and failed to create an impression. However, the selectors had a different opinion and felt that Umesh is a better option than Shami.

#4 The number 4 conundrum

Karthik did not do much wrong in the Asia Cup to get dropped

One of the biggest talking points in Indian cricket in the recent past has been the absence of a stable number 4 in India's ODI team. While the selectors have been trying to find the player best suited for that position in the batting order, their choices have been questionable. Dinesh Karthik was dropped from the ODI side after a couple of starts in the Asia Cup. Despite his poor form in Test cricket, Karthik has done reasonably well in limited-overs cricket.

There wasn't much difference between Karthik and Rayudu's performance in the Asia Cup, but the latter was preferred for some unknown reason. Rayudu, who had a fantastic IPL for CSK, has struggled against good pace-attacks and it will be interesting to see how he fares in Australia and New Zealand.

Also, the likes of Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant have been in and out of the side which shows the lack of thought process from the selectors.

#3 Kedar Jadhav match-fit fiasco

How can Jadhav prove his fitness ?

Kedar Jadhav thought that he would walk into the Indian team once he was declared fit. And he had reason to think so. While the pocket-sized dynamo did not get much opportunity with the bat in the Asia Cup, his effectiveness as a bowler was on full display. Jadhav, with his low-arm trajectory bowling, took some big wickets and provided India crucial breakthroughs throughout the series.

However, his old problem of the hamstring injury resurfaced during the final and kept him out of the first two ODIs against West Indies. Jadhav kept working hard and was selected to play for India A in the Deodhar Trophy. The all-rounder scored 41 runs off just 25 balls and also bowled 5 overs, only to find out at the end of the match that he wasn't selected in the Indian team for the last three ODI matches.

While Jadhav was shell shocked at the omission, Prasad said that Jadhav was not included because of his dubious fitness history referring to his Asia Cup final injury. So for how long will Jadhav have to remain injury-free to be considered for selection and how much time will the selectors take to get convinced that Jadhav won't be injured (which is not in his hands) while playing for India again?

#2 Different selection criteria for Nair, Agarwal and Vijay, Rohit?

Vijay has replaced Agarwal in India's Test squad

India's Team selections on the tour of England received a lot of flak. The team management and selectors were criticised heavily by former players and pundits for mismanagement of the players.

Hanuma Vihari, who was drafted in the squad after the first 3 Tests in England, got a game ahead of Karun Nair, who was with the team from the first Test. To make matters worse for Nair, he was dropped from the side for the West Indies series even without playing a single Test in United Kingdom.

Same was the case for Mayank Agarwal. Agarwal has done everything a batsman needs to do to get into the Indian team. The Karnataka batsman has scored piles of runs in all formats and for every team he has played. The opener was finally rewarded with a place in the Test side against West Indies. However, the selectors dropped Agarwal and got back Murali Vijay, who was dropped after a string of poor scores in England, for the series against Australia.

Also, the selectors selected Rohit Sharma in the side. Even though Rohit has been in terrific form in ODI cricket, he hasn't done anything in the longer format to earn a place in the Test side.

Agarwal and Nair have every right to feel hard done by the selectors. This will be a serious dent to these players' confidence and doesn't set a good precedence for the future.

#1 Mix signals on MS Dhoni

Perform or perish for Dhoni ?

Dhoni is one of the most celebrated cricketers in Indian cricket and a lot of sentiments are attached to anything remotely related to him. That surely doesn't guarantee him a place in the national side. But the decisions taken about his selections have been confusing. The selectors clearly aren't sure about his place in the side, neither are they sure about how to handle such delicate selection issues.

The chairman of the selection committee, Prasad, in August 2017 before the ODI series against Sri Lanka said that if Dhoni isn't an automatic choice in ODIs and if he doesn't perform, then they will have to look for other alternatives. Prasad backtracked in December 2017 saying that Dhoni is India's number 1 keeper and is India's first choice till 2019 World Cup.

However, Dhoni's lean patch has extended more than the selectors' liking and he has been dropped from the T20 side. Even though Prasad has stated that they are trying to figure out a second wicket-keeper, it is a clear cut signal to the former captain that he will have to perform well to keep his place in the side. A legend like MS Dhoni surely deserves better treatment than this.