Having relinquished his post as senior Indian men's selection panel chairman, MSK Prasad revealed how important the shadow tours have been in aiding the growth of the young talent around the circuit.
The India A side, featuring best performing domestic cricketers, has been regularly travelling abroad in sync with the national team; allowing the players on the fringes to gain invaluable experience of playing in foreign conditions and strengthen their case of higher recognition.
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These shadow tours help the team management at the senior level to have ready back-ups available in case of injuries, with the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari and Prithvi Shaw progressing in recent years through the same path.
"Players are identified on the basis of consistency in the last two years in major domestic events. Then, they are given the India-A platform to show their skills," Prasad told Sportstar.
"The shadow tours, one month before the seniors’ tours, are the key to our central idea of building the reserve strength. So, we take pride in the grooming process of young talent or what you call the bench strength."
“All the managements of India-A, the Indian senior team and the NCA are involved in this planning of player succession. We identified a pool of 25 to 30 players and groomed them. In addition, we also picked 60 to 70 players from domestic cricket, apart from India-A. We are watching them. For the next six to eight years, there need not be any worry about any department."
Prasad also explained how the workload of the top cream of players is monitored; helping the selection panel and the team management ensure the injuries are avoided. In case a player still goes with down with an injury, Prasad affirmed, his comeback depends on the circumstances.
"The workload database is always there. A chart is prepared for each player. We all sit together and take a decision on a particular player," he said.
"An injured player on comeback will be given preference if he has been performing well prior to the break. Well, if someone else comes in and does extremely well, he will definitely have a better chance. So, one has to wait. A judgement has to be made depending on that particular case."
During his tenure, Prasad was often criticised for his lack of experience as a cricketer and was claimed to have been easily intimidated by skipper Virat Kohli and head Ravi Shastri into making decisions.
"It is about winning the confidence of the heavyweights," Prasad, however, said. "I always keep saying that it is not important as to how many matches you have played before becoming a selector. It depends as to how good you are in management. I am a management student. So, the team management should have confidence in us."
"Earlier, there were public spats on selection. But, never in our term. Well, it is good to have a difference of opinion. Because of our management skills, the transition of teams or players was very smooth."
“I always thought I could be a selector, but never the chairman of the panel (laughs). What I have handled in BCCI so far is not even 10 per cent of what I did in Andhra. For everything there is a system in the BCCI," he added.
"So, all that we can do in BCCI is to add a few more dimensions which are successful. And, we take pride in the number of success stories in the Indian team, as most of them were groomed by us in the last two or three years. This is what gives us great satisfaction."
(Inputs from Sportstar)
