Hyderabad, Oct. 19: The senior selection committee of the Hyderabad Cricket Association sprang a surprise on Tuesday by omitting Tirumalsetti Suman from the Ranji Trophy squad for the first two games this season.
The decision of the freshly constituted committee raised eyebrows in cricketing circles as Suman, an established batsman, has been consistent at the domestic level, performance that earned him a spot on the India Green squad in the recently concluded BCCI Challenger Trophy.
That apart, Suman’s average, at 29.40 in the three matches he got to play last season, is better than at least four of the recognised batsmen selected this time around — Shashank Nag (24.40), Ibrahim Khaleel (24.33), S. Anoop Pai (11.28) and N. Arjun Yadav (7.00).
However, the collective wisdom of the selection panel comprising Abdul Azeem, N.P. Singh, Vanka Pratap and Shaik Riazuddin is all that counts in the HCA. Or are there other invisible players in this heartless game?
Similar selection whims have been blamed for Hyderabad slipping from the Elite to the Plate division last year. It’s time the lessons are learnt, quickly.
The team: D. B. Ravi Teja (captain), Ibrahim Khaleel (vice-captain), N. Arjun Yadav, Anirudh Singh, S. Anoop Pai, Shashank Nag, Ahmed Quadri, A. Lalith Mohan, Alfred Absolom, Kanishk Naidu, M. A. Khader, M. P. Arjun, Vishal Sharma, Habeeb Ahmed, P. Akshath Reddy. Coaches: S. L. Venkatapathi Raju, Vivek Jaisimha, Noel David. Manager: Peter Gomez. Physio: S. Madhanagopal. Trainer: Gajanan Reddy.