New Delhi, July 9: The last few days have seen a lot of talk around the Indian team management’s call for a replacement for injured opener Shubman Gill and the national selectors’ refusal to send any more players considering the touring party already has enough back-up players.
While there have also been unnecessary questions raised on whether the selection committee initially refused to pay heed to the request from the team, a senior board official has said that the whole episode could have been avoided if the manager had written to either the secretary or the acting CEO.
Speaking to ANI, the official said that the manager should have followed the protocol and written to either Jay Shah or Hemang Amin and the confusion could have very well been avoided.
“It is time for the team management to focus on the tour after the break. There has been a lot of chatter around this whole replacement business and the e-mail from the team management to the chairman of selectors, which has apparently caused confusion in the minds of a lot of people except possibly the team management and the selectors.
“I think this is on account of the fact that the team manager addressed the e-mail to the chairman of selectors rather than to the BCCI’s acting CEO or the secretary,” the official explained.
“It is very simple, when you are on tour, if there is any requirement or difficulty, you are to speak or write to the secretary or the CEO or their office since they are your point of contact. You have to keep in mind that this is the Indian team’s tour and not a private tour and a system has to be followed.”
Elaborating further on why following the process was important in this case, the official said: “In the recent past a request for replacement has usually been discussed with the selection committee verbally and where the committee has agreed with the views of the team management they have taken up the matter with the board. In this case, too there was a verbal discussion and specific names were requested and the selectors had not agreed with the views of the team management. Therefore, if a mail had then to be written, it ought to have been to the acting CEO or the secretary.”
Explaining how there was a lapse in decision-making on part of the team management, the official said: “I am sure Girish Dongre and the Team Director and the captain who are marked on the e-mail are well aware of the process as well. Therefore, this does not appear to be a well thought out decision to send out this e-mail in this manner. This ought to have been avoided because you do not need this sort of a precursor to the tour.”
There has also been a trend in the recent past wherein the previous selection committee under the Committee of Administrators accepted every demand of the team management. The official explained that while it is all fair when decisions are taken in unison by both parties involved, the final call should always lie with only the selectors.
The official also said that differences in views should be taken in the right spirit and not seen as a breakdown in communication. (ANI)
