Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran travelled with the Indian team across Australia over the last couple of months; trained with their colleagues regularly, but returned home without featuring in a single game in the just-concluded five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which India conceded 3-1.
While Sarfaraz played in the warm-up match against Australian Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra and scored one run, Abhimanyu had to warm the bench throughout the tour.
While the team management did not consider either of them, Sarfaraz and Abhimanyu also ended up missing out on a large part of the domestic season and were practically left without any game time for more than two months.
It was almost a similar story for the travelling reserves — Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed — who ended up operating in the net sessions before being eventually released in mid-December, after the third Test.
Dhruv Jurel, featured in the series opener as a replacement for the injured Shubman Gill. However, the wicketkeeper-batter, too, had to warm the bench after that. Though this is not the first time that a few players had to sit out for the entire tour, it did raise questions on whether they would have been better off playing domestic cricket instead.
Warming the bench on long tours can be excruciating, and with cut-throat competition for places in the starting lineup, lack of game time could often add to the stress. However, as former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha points out, it’s important for a player to continue with his regular training regime even when he is not in the final 11.
“Getting picked in the side is not in your control, but how well you prepare yourself, how you get ready is something which you can take care of. That’s the best way to move forward and that allows you to be in a good mental space,” Ojha says. “If you are not in that space, then you can never be mentally ready for the opportunities that you may end up getting,” he adds.
Ojha, too, had to warm the bench on several occasions and he remembers an incident from India’s tour of New Zealand in 2009, when he played for a local New Zealand team in a tournament with Dinesh Karthik after being benched for a while.
The idea was floated by the then India coach Gary Kirsten, and both Ojha and Karthik happily made the most of the opportunity.
“We were not getting any game time. So, Gary suggested that we should go and play a few games. Obviously, when you are touring, you’d never say no to any game time, so we were ready and that’s how it happened,” Ojha recollects.
But the former India cricketer agrees that it gets challenging for a young cricketer to continuously be on the bench, especially when the team fares poorly. Ojha did not get a single game during India’s tour of South Africa in 2013, when India lost both Tests and ODIs series.
“When I was not part of the playing level, it obviously rubbed off on me, and if the team was not doing well, you felt what was happening. As a player, you expect to play for the team and when that does not happen, you do feel dejected, but then, our times were different,” he says.
Belonging to a generation that had star spinners like Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in its ranks, it wasn’t easy for a young Ojha to make the cut. “So you got a reality check quite early. You knew that the competition would be very steep, so the best thing to do was to prepare well and be ready for your chances,” Ojha says.
“Now, things are different because most of the guys in the team are around the same age with almost the same level of experience, so a Washington Sundar might think that if Kuldeep Yadav is playing, he might also get a chance soon. But during our time, when Anil (Kumble) bhai or Bhajju paa were in the team, there were certainties in the team, and you had to accept that fact and deal with it,” Ojha says.
Even former India fast bowler Pankaj Singh had a similar experience during India’s limited overs series in Australia in 2008. That was Pankaj’s maiden call-up and the fast bowler from Rajasthan could not play a game throughout the tour as India went on to win the ODI series.
“Every player wants to be part of the playing 11, and when that does not happen, it becomes a challenge to stay motivated. You put in a lot of hard work and wait for your opportunity. But after missing out on a couple of matches, the reality hits you,” Pankaj says.
It took Pankaj another couple of years to eventually feature in an ODI, while his Test debut came six years later, in 2014 when India toured England. A domestic cricket stalwart, Pankaj remembers his time in Australia and how he would hang out with R.P. Singh, Irfan Pathan, who encouraged him.
“At times you feel lost, so it is important to take things in your stride and interact with your teammates as much as you can. That way, they get to know you and you also pick their brains,” Pankaj says. “It always gets challenging for a newcomer to make his way into the team because it takes time to earn the trust of the captain and the team management, so for me also, it was about gaining that confidence and trying to understand the set-up well during the training sessions…”
But Ojha and Pankaj agree that unlike back in their day, emphasis is laid on the reserves staying in shape.
“But things have changed immensely post the Indian Premier League, and now all countries ensure that even the travelling reserves get enough training time. Rest is up to the individual,” Ojha says.
While former India wicketkeeper-batter and erstwhile national selector Saba Karim agrees that things are better now in terms of management, he believes it was ‘unfair’ on Abhimanyu and Sarfaraz to warm the bench throughout the Australia tour, despite having proven their mettle at the First-Class level.
Barring the 150 in Bengaluru, Sarfaraz struggled against the New Zealand side at home on rank turners, while Abhimanyu scored 7, 12, 0, 7 in the two games for India A against Australia A. However, Karim says that it’s time to give them a sustained run before putting any labels on them.
“It is very disheartening, because one is ready to face numerous challenges, but this is something which is beyond their control. That’s the way I look at it,” Karim says.
“I seriously believe that domestic cricketers need to be rewarded. And here, we are not only talking about domestic cricketers, but about players who have done well while representing India A in the past, which means that they have been tested multiple number of times, and that is why you have taken them as part of the Test team,” Karim says.
“Logically, it makes sense to give them an opportunity whenever an opportunity arises. I find it strange that these two cricketers who are part of the squad were not even considered for selection. If that was the case, then why did you pick them in the first place?”
Having gone through similar phases in his career, Karim understands the challenges a young player faces in such times.
“If you were not sure about their technical expertise of doing well in Australia, then you should have jolly well taken somebody else. I feel very strongly that without trying them out in those conditions, how can we decide that they are not good enough for those conditions?” Karim questions.
“It has been harsh on Abhimanyu and Sarfaraz. Sarfaraz had two Test matches before he got to hundred in Bengaluru, where the rest of the team struggled, except for Rishabh Pant. And after that he played two Test matches and both those matches were on rank turners. Forget about Sarfaraz, none of the other Indian batters scored runs. So, keeping that in mind, I don’t understand this decision…”
Getting left on the bench for an entire series may feel like being lonely on a planet, but Pankaj’s advice of not giving up hope can hold a player in good stead, who says,” kab mauka mil jaaye…’”