Rahul Dravid makes a slight change to his own U-19 selection policy

Dravid and the junior selection committee feels some players need more exposure before the next level.

Rahul Dravid feels some young players need more grooming before the higher level. (AFP)

It was the great man's advise that prompted the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) to limit all U-19 cricketers to just one World Cup of their level but Rahul Dravid has now made a deviation from his own well thought out plan, to allow youngsters more grooming time to be ripe for the higher level. 

Rahul's idea was brought out from an understanding that a lot of U-19 players, Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant to name a few, had already made it to their respective state teams in the Ranji Trophy before playing the U-19 World Cup but he has now realised that perhaps some players need more experience and wisen up as talents before transitioning to a higher level. 

This has allowed someone like Aryan Juyal, who started the U-19 World Cup earlier this year as the first wicketkeeper, to be available for selection for the upcoming Indian U-19s tour to Sri Lanka. Someone like Arjun Tendulkar, who is 18 years already and will be above 20 by the time next world cup in 2020 starts, has been picked for the four-day games in Sri Lanka. Purely because Rahul and the junior selection committee feels that youngsters like Aryan and Arjun need more grooming.

A BCCI official has been quoted saying to the TOI about the matter that,  "The decision has been taken by Dravid and the junior selection committee together. There is no hard and fast rule about repeating players after a U-19 World Cup," 

Youngsters that don't quite make it to the higher level, because of lack of good strong ability, never really play consistently for their state teams. Rahul and the selection committee wants to ensure the pipeline doesn't lose players and stays strong. The official further added, "Dravid feels that some of the boys need a bit more of grooming. These boys don't make it to the senior teams straight away. It will only help to strengthen the pool of players,"

People like Rahul Dravid are the real assets of Indian Cricket. 


(Inputs from TOI)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 09 Jun, 2018

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