da bet vitoria： The establishment of the zonal cricket academies has been a step inthe right direction for nurturing young talents in the country, feelsnational selector Ashok Malhotra
11-Jun-2001The establishment of the zonal cricket academies has been a step inthe right direction for nurturing young talents in the country, feelsnational selector Ashok Malhotra. The move would help in spotting moretalented cricketers, the former Test player said during an informalchat with newsmen in Bhubaneshwar on Sunday.Malhotra felt that the country needed bouncy wickets and said thepitch committee set up by the BCCI was looking into the matter.Malhotra, who was in the city as chief guest at the concludingfunction of the Telegraph Schools Chess Tournament, said he wassatisfied over the composition of the Indian team, now in Zimbabwe.Asked about the players who could figure in the one-day squad to bepicked on June 13 next, he said it would be too early to speculatebecause the team was to play another Test at Harare.He, however, indicated that Delhi’s Vivek Sehwag, who created a fineimpression in the first one-dayer against Australia before beingsidelined with an injury, and Punjab all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhiwere in the race. Bengal wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta was also underwatch, he said.Replying to a question whether the Indian team was capable of winningthe World Cup in 2003, Malhotra said that’s a long way off. “It is forthe team management to shape the team for the future.”Malhotra said the present Ranji teams of Punjab and Orissa were thetwo best young sides in the country. They needed to sustain this levelof performance, he added. The success of the Orissa team whichqualified for the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy for the first timethis season was a very good sign for Indian cricket, the nationalselector said.Praising Orissa’s Shiv Sundar Das, Malhotra said the diminutive openerfrom Bhubaneshwar had cemented his place in the Test team. Formercricketers and commentators including Sunil Gavaskar are satisfiedwith his performance, he said.Speaking about medium pacer Debasish Mohanty who could not make it tothe playing eleven in the first Test at Bulawayo, Malhotra said “Ourjob is to select the players, but it is for the team management todecide whom to play.”On upcoming Orissa middle-order bat Rashmi Ranjan Parida who amassedover 800 runs this season and was instrumental in taking the state tothe semifinals for the first time, Malhotra said Parida and teammatePravanjan Mullick were talented and were doing very well. “We arevery pleased with their batting.”Questioned as to whether Parida had a chance of breaking into thenational squad, Malhotra said “Don’t worry. A good performance nevergoes wasted.”