The senior selection committee of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) released the list of probables for the forthcoming Ranji season on Tuesday. And true to DDCA form, the list contained a massive 51 names, probably, as one member said, to accommodate” players who wanted to have that “Delhi Ranji probable” tag.
The list will subsequently be pruned to 25 after a five-day camp, and then to 16. The camp begins at the St.Stephen's college grounds on September 10.
While Virender Sehwag has been appointed skipper and Gautam Gambhir his deputy, it remains to be seen who leads the team if and when both are on national duty.
Justifying the big list, chairman of selectors, Chetan Chauhan, said: “We wanted to make sure no player misses out. We wanted to give everybody a chance.”
Chauhan added that the committee had decided to set an aggregate of 700 runs in the local leagues as the minimum requirement for batsmen and 30 wickets for the bowlers. As for all-rounders, the criteria was 400 runs and 20 wickets.
“Nine players have been selected (from the leagues) on this basis,” Chauhan said. The rest are various state-level players.
{{/usCountry}}“Nine players have been selected (from the leagues) on this basis,” Chauhan said. The rest are various state-level players.
{{/usCountry}}The 51-name list clearly has an emphasis on pace, something Chauhan revealed, was done at Sehwag's behest.
“Sehwag wanted a large pool of pacers to choose from; when we prune the list, we will have about 4-5 extra pacers to distribute the workload,” Chauhan said.
As for the list, while 15 pick themselves, there are the all-too-familiar ‘quota’ names. Sources told HT that several DDCA officials were less than happy with the size of the list and the obvious favouritism.
An interesting name on the list is that of fast bowler Sanjay Gill.
Gill, who has played for Delhi, and turned out for Rajasthan a couple of seasons ago, took a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Rajasthan and is now set for a Delhi 'comeback' at 32-plus.
Better late than never.