One of the many problems for the Indian side leading into the World Cup was the issue revolving around the number four position. There were concerns about that spot but the selectors were convinced it was not a big deal. They picked Vijay Shankar as the man for that spot, but in India's first match against South Africa, KL Rahul walked out to bat.
Shikhar Dhawan's injury forced Rahul to be bumped up the order and when Vijay Shankar too was injured, the selectors roped in Mayank Agarwal, an opening batsman by trade, as his replacement. Clearly, things were very erratic and the BCCI seems to have taken note of the inconsistent decision making.
Speaking to IANS, a senior BCCI official said that if the selectors get paid rich monetary awards after the team does well, they need to be held accountable when the team loses in a tournament as well.
'What about the chairman of selectors'
The official said, "When the team wins a tournament, the selectors are given a financial reward for their performance but when the criticism comes after a loss, it is only the players who seem to be criticised. What about the selectors?"
"More importantly, what about the chairman of the selection committee? He has been constantly travelling with the team on all tours and surely he must have seen the areas that require attention. The accountability for the number four musical chairs must rest with him since he was the one playing the music," he further added.
The official was also not very chuffed with how the issues of replacements were dealt with as there was no consistency while picking up players and this has not gone down too well with the BCCI.
"One has been unable to make head or tail of anything. An opener gets injured and you get a middle-order batsman as replacement who should have always been a part of the squad in the first place," he said.
"Then, your middle-order batsman gets injured and you get an opener as a replacement. No matter what the team management wants, the decision lies with the selectors. This also leads to a bigger question as to who would judge the performance of the selectors during the period of their contracts," he categorically mentioned.
There have been inconsistencies in the selection and after India's ouster from the semi-finals, there is bound to be a review, but the selectors will be in their positions till the Annual General Meeting of the BCCI.
