India A tour of England

[Shri]

Sachin is a **** player btw, only good in ICC games.

[Arjun]

Here's Akash Chopra's review of the A-team selection and their performances. He's not at all happy with the excessive preference for youth over quality and merit. He's got a point, with the selection of some of the fast bowlers in this team being highly questionable. However, I don't agree with the needless IPL-bashing and also suggesting selection of more India regulars and a few fringe players.

This is a learning experience for these players, and should be treated as that and no more. While a few relatively senior players such as RP, Irfan and Ishant should have been on this tour to guide the youngsters, the A team should be treated less as a selection platform and more as a means to learn the finer points of playing abroad. The nonsensical youth-oriented, development-oriented selection in the Indian senior team can be used best here. The A-team can be the youth-oriented selection, while the immediate reserves can form a separate team, like a Board XI.

There have, however, been some consistent A-team performers for India who have never made the national team regularly, notably Chopra, Mishra (fair, not too impressive, but still a quality bowler), Bhandari and Badrinath. While Bhandari is a long shot for a selection, this should be a benchmark, consistent A-team performances, coupled with domestic records across all formats over a few seasons.