Domestic performance more important than IPL for ODI selection, say former BCCI selectors

Nitish Rana, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant have been some of the top performers this IPL season.

New Delhi: The Indian Premier League 2017 season has been perfectly utilised by some of the emerging young Indian cricketers including Mumbai Indians' Nitish Rana, Delhi Daredevils' Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, and few others. But will their performances in the T20 league make the BCCI selectors consider them for selection in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy? Former selectors doesn't think so.

“The Champions Trophy (50 overs a side) is a different ball game in England. You need experienced players for that,” Kiran More, a former chief selector and now a talent manager with Mumbai Indians, was quoted saying by livemint.

More also revealed that the selectors would not have waited for IPL to finalise their squad selection for the Champions Trophy. Their process began and more-or-less got concluded even before the tournament started. There would probably be one or two inclusions which would be up for discussions.

Many experts voice caution about IPL success stories—they get disproportionate attention from the media and pundits, but there is a need to understand the distinction between formats.

“When you are picking a T20 team, then (giving weightage to) IPL performance is fine. If I have to pick just a T20 team, then I can think of Rana, but certainly not for ODIs (One Day Internationals). I will see what he has done in the Vijay Hazare tournament,” said Syed Saba Karim, a former national selector.

“Even Pant will get a look only if (M.S.) Dhoni is injured. Similarly, someone like Krunal Pandya will be seriously considered if (Ravindra) Jadeja is unfit. However, if (Virat) Kohli gets injured, I won’t consider Rana because he hasn’t done anything of note in domestic cricket, unlike a Pant or Pandya,” Karim continued.

For instance, “Nitish (Rana) has done well in the IPL but didn’t have a great first-class season, so the onus is now on him to follow it up nicely in the next season,” Karim further suggested.

IPL might not be the ideal platform, but Rana and Pant will surely get their chances of impressing selectors with their performances for India A.