“We keep talking about the number of runs and the averages and all that stuff. You have someone hitting 150. Sometimes in an environment like West Indies or Bangladesh, you don’t need someone hitting 150. Someone who also hits cutters. That’s the vision of the selectors. Sometimes you pick great talent, but you need a balanced approach to create too much overvaluation after two or three games.
“In India, the graph is moving (up and down) and it’s not good for young players. That’s where the pundits and commentators have to strike a balance when it comes to young players. It’s easy for them to get off track. The effort they’re doing and the good things they’re doing. All of a sudden, there’s a young player. Because if you start telling them you’re doing well, it could backfire on them.
Gambhir emphasized the importance of domestic cricket and added that IPL performances should not influence the selection of red-ball cricket.
“India’s T20I side needs to be picked in the IPL (performance),” Gambhir said. “For the 50-over format, you have to pick from Vijay Hazare, the Test side has to pick from first-class cricket, red-ball cricket. It’s that simple. If you start picking someone for the 50-over format, or if you play red-ball cricket in an IPL competition; You are creating a lot of shortcuts for a lot of young players to not focus on red-ball cricket or the 50-over format, and you are in crisis.”
Gambhir – ‘The two new balls in ODIs are the worst thing in cricket’
The introduction of the two new balls rule in ODIs in 2011 was the “worst thing” to have happened in cricket, Gambhir said. He also added that this rule led to the disappearance of finger spinners. He said this is why players like Ashwin and Australia’s Nathan Lyon did not have much success in the 50-over format at the time.
“The worst thing that happened in cricket was the introduction of two new balls,” Gambhir told Ashwin. “Whether you are a left-arm spinner or an off-spinner, you bring all the skills of a fingerspinner to the game. With two new balls, five fielders inside, how do you expect a fingerspinner to succeed? Whatever comes off the surface, the playing XI What do you think will include finger spinners?
“If the ball manufacturer is not able to keep the ball in good condition for 50 overs, it may be better to change the manufacturer. Do not introduce two new balls because one ball cannot maintain any color for 50 overs.”
Gautam Gambhir
“You got rid of two of the best fingerspinners in the world – you (Ashwin) and Nathan Lyon. The reason you didn’t play was because you had nothing. If you bowled in the 20th over, you were a 10-over bird. The ball, five fielders inside and on a flat track, and the big bat, the small boundary, the smaller boundary and not bowling over that DRS is about the off-spinners. It’s about promoting all kinds of bowlers who want to bowl fingerspin or left-arm spin because no one will want to do so. Because I know there isn’t one.”
Gambhir added that the ICC should have looked to “change the ball manufacturer” rather than changing the rules affecting players.
“I like the format or the rule of having one new ball. It’s not the player’s problem. If the manufacturer of the ball can’t keep the ball in good condition for 50 overs, it might be better to change manufacturers. Don’t introduce two. When people talk about taking wickets in the middle innings because one ball can’t carry any colors for 50 overs, suddenly you realize that without a carom you can take the only wicket, either with a ball or a blinker, but bowling skill is the real thing. Where is the off-spin or the left-arm spin that can beat people in the air or even outside the wicket?
“Because there is nothing outside the wicket and there are five fielders inside. So I think the ICC has screwed things up. Going forward, they can change it and have one ball for the entire 50 overs.”
