BATSMAN BATSMAN EVERYWHERE, NO BATSMAN TO STAY!!
Since Ganguly's retirement, India have struggled to find a permanent number 6 batsman for quite a long time now. It is worth mentioning that Ganguly retired in November 2008 and since then it has been musical chairs between Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, both of whom have failed to impress. I researched a lot on ESPNcricinfo and found some puzzling statistics related to this. Although stats are no exact measure of quality, but numbers don't lie too.....
This shows overall record of Yuvraj and Raina in test matches. A dismal story of averages. Raina's average shows how many chances he has botched up.
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Only VVS Laxman and Virat Kohli have looked ominously good at number6 since Ganguly's retirement. The former has retired and the latter now bats at number5.
The ignored men: Look how prolific Rahane, Badrinath and others have been. Technically sound batsmen have been waiting in the wings for too long but the selectors have turned a blind eye on them. Its time they get their due! Badrinath has already crossed 32. Others seem on the right side of age, as the term goes.
Now this shows India's dismal story. I searched for the record of number 6 position batsmen in last 10 years . All test playing nations have one stable batter there. India's illogical selection policy has kept this spot open even till now.
All in all, its time the selectors stop fiddling with same old options that aren't clicking. The ones waiting have to be tested. That is how the Ranji performers will be rewarded and not IPL stars. Justice awaits...where are the selectors to bring it???
Ps: Espn Stats search si so good, it took me just under 2 hours to do the whole Post!!
