Following India’s series win over England, head coach Rahul Dravid appreciated and praised the work done by Ajit Agarkar, the chief selector, and the selection committee in tracking the youngsters and picking the right ones for this series.
With India missing several players due to injury, rest, or unavailability – Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant are injured; Virat Kohli was unavailable; Ravindra Jadeja missed one Test and KL Rahul four Tests due to injuries; Bumrah and Siraj were rested for one Test each – it came down to the bench strength and the newbies.
India handed out five debut caps in this series – Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, and Akash Deep – with Jurel and Sarfaraz impressing the most in their chances. Jurel, who replaced the unimpressive KS Bharat, bagged the Man of the Match award in the fourth Test, while Sarfaraz cracked three fifties.
Sometimes it’s not easy being a selector: Rahul Dravid
Speaking at the win in Dharamsala, Rahul Dravid made it a point to mention Ajit Agarkar and the selection committee. Rahul Dravid explained that since he and the captain Rohit Sharma couldn’t go to domestic matches and watch these players, they had trusted Agarkar and his panel to make the right choices, which they did.
Dravid told Jio Cinema, “I’d just like to give a big shoutout to Ajit [Agarkar, chairman of selectors] and his team as well. A lot of the youngsters that come in, honestly, as a coach and as a captain, we don’t actually get to see them because we don’t see as much domestic cricket as Ajit and his team of selectors do. And they’ve pushed us and they’ve challenged us to pick some of these young players and they’ve picked the right ones and they’ve come out here and performed.
“So sometimes it’s not easy being a selector because you always get the criticism but a big credit and a big pat on the back to Ajit and his team as well.”
The good thing about these debutants doing well is that they got experience in Test cricket at home, which will keep them in good stead should their need arise on the 5-Test tour of Australia later this year. With the size of 5 Test matches, and the injury cartwheel that goes on in Indian cricket, their debuts came at the perfect time for them to show that they are Test match material.
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