The problem now passes on to the selectors

With the announcement having been made that the Indian team for the Sahara Cup is to be selected on August 10, the excitement is palpable. Surely the release of no team in recent times will be awaited with such keen interest as the squad for the Toronto series against Pakistan. In fact, the excitement in a way is unique. In the past the emotions and arguments centered around which players would be picked or dropped, depending on their talent and form. This time chief interest will centre around a few players and whether they will be picked or not. And for a change, this reasoning will have nothing to do with their cricketing ability but their alleged off the field activities.

That there is a question mark over the selection of players like Md Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia and Nikhil Chopra and the coach Kapil Dev is now taken for granted. In fact with each passing day, opinion against them is solidifying. In the past, opinion polls were far from accurate but of late, they can be taken as a reasonable yardstick of the pulse of the people. And going by these, there is little doubt that a majority of the cricket fans in the country are not only convinced that the 'tainted' players are guilty, but many also feel they should not be considered for national selection. The Sports Ministry has made its stand clear that these cricketers should either themselves drop out of contention, owning 'moral responsibility', or not be considered for selection. The Board of Control for Cricket in India, on its part, has stood by the adage that a man is innocent until proved guilty and the president AC Muthiah has made it clear that the players cannot be dropped just because they face certain allegations.

Let's take a few opinion polls which have appeared in national magazines lately. In one magazine, 65 percent feel Kapil Dev is guilty of match fixing and 56 percent want him removed from his post. As many as 78 percent feel the guilty should be dropped and 55 percent are not in favour of the guilty being granted amnesty. More specifically, a staggering 87 percent feel that Azharuddin is guilty of match fixing, and 64 percent feel the same way about Jadeja. In another magazine, 61 percent believe that Indian players are involved in match fixing while 52 percent say that 'tainted' players should not be considered for selection.

Muthiah has called for the CBI inquiry to be completed quickly. His view is that the players are demoralised with the seamy events. This is understandable. Certainly, they cannot be in a positive frame of mind with the proverbial Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. But since it is certain that the CBI inquiry will not be over in a week, there is very little chance of the allegedly involved cricketers being selected, whatever the BCCI's stance may be. However, it is not known whether the Chandu Borde headed selection committee has received any instructions in this regard so all this adds spice to the proceedings. But it is worth noting that the Board has always said that it never interferes with the selection process.

However, when looks at the issue closely, is it really a major problem that the selectors face? In the first place, the 'tainted' players are by no means sure of a place in the side. Md Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Nikhil Chopra and Nayan Mongia are all players who can be dispensed with. A team can still be picked around Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad, Robin Singh, Ajit Agarkar and a few young players including a new wicketkeeper.

Indeed, if anything, the major problem seems to be centring around the coach. Kapil Dev was appointed last September for a two year term. But he is now in the dock, first because of non performance of the team and second, following the serious match fixing allegations against him. If the 'tainted' players are not to be considered, by the same yardstick, Kapil Dev also should be dropped. Which means a new coach should be appointed. Which again raises the question, should the tenure be only for Toronto or for a longer period? The five match series against Pakistan is the only international engagement for the Indian team before the BCCI's AGM, generally held towards the end of September, during which the coach is usually appointed. Yes, there are a host of questions which have to be answered and the coming days are bound to be interesting with hectic off the field manoeuvring. Watch this space.