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In stature, Inzamam and Kiran More do not draw parallels. It would be equivalent to likening a messianic warhorse to a steed. But there is one trait they share in common - a template of perfunctory clichés.
Inzamam-babbles at presentation ceremonies are fairly predictable, and so are More's reflexes in the form of "doors are not closed for anyone", "he figures in our scheme of things" and the like.
After the two-hour wait had reached an agonising high-water mark, BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah presented the team, which was a foregone conclusion - the only cone of the bizarre being Sreesanth's omission from the ICC Champions trophy.
R P Singh has got the nod on the back of his recent performance for India 'A' in Australia. Kumble failed to get a clean bill of fitness from Gloster and understandably wasn't included keeping the larger picture in perspective.
In between, Shah had to combat volleys pertaining to the conflict of interests between private endorsements and board sponsors.
Everything was played with a straight bat that "the board and the team share an amicable relationship."
Shah's take on this issue still not clear. On one hand, he says that players' individual contracts do not concern the board. But he maintains that players should "inform" the board prior to signing up for their individual endorsements. Whatever it entails.
Back to cricket, it is difficult to comprehend More's comment at Sunday's press meet that "all fast bowlers have done well." Pathan hasn't been a certainty in the tests; debates have ranged on his waning pace and form quotient. Munaf, for all his promise, hasn't quite hit the straps in the shorter version of the game, though his place in the squad cannot be questioned.
It is a truth (save for More and co) universally acknowledged that if performance is the parameter, Zaheer Khan has a better claim. The familiar riposte "doors are not closed" is his only compensation for now.
A fair life is a sham, Sreesanth would know. Kumble's six-wicket haul notwithstanding, it was Sreesanth who landed the decisive blows at Sabina Park, Kingston, to help us clinch the fourth and decisive rubber in the West Indies.
Remember, India failed to close two tests in the Caribbean when he did not fire. Thankfully for Dravid and team, Sreesanth promptly disregarded the memory of Gayle's barbaric assault and got his bearings right when it mattered the most.
Clenched fists, hormones going into overdrive and joie de vivre, so typical of his personality, were back. Here is an opportunity gone begging, not only to enlarge upon his confidence but also to assess his big match temperament.
But knowing the selectors, they will march in lockstep with the argument that only 14 can be selected. Does not suffice if it is your premier bowler and "Future."
Remember this phrase Chairman? By the way Shah has a penchant for the tongue-in-cheek. On a snide remark by a scribe that how does our Chairman feel about his last assignment as selector, Shah remarked, "We will see more of him."
Hope for the health of Indian cricket that was just a banter.
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