England-based former India spinner Dilip Doshi says Zaheer khan's replacement RP Singh would have been better off playing club games leading up to Oval Test
England-based former India spinner Dilip Doshi says Zaheer Khan's replacement RP Singh would have been better off playing club games leading up to Oval Test
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RP Singh. PIC/Getty Images
"I would play RP Singh for sure because he has done well in England before. I was surprised he didn't come here in the first place," said Doshi.
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Singh arrived during the third Test here as a replacement for Zaheer Khan, who had to leave the tour party due to his controversial hamstring and ankle injuries. "Zaheer Khan's fitness has been in doubt before and while he is the spearhead and main bowler, they still needed to look at somebody else. I would have sent RP to play some club matches and they (clubs) would have been happy to play him. I would have done ANYTHING for match conditions at whatever level. Match conditions means you are competitive. Any level you play, you want to do well and your adrenaline will be different," said 63-year-old Doshi, who turned out for Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire on the English county circuit.
Gloomy times
India's cricketing flag is certainly not flying high even as Independence Day is celebrated today. The Indian cricket board has much to answer for and would have been better off picking the brains of former players based in England for their knowledge of conditions and contacts. Farokh Engineer, the Manchester-based erstwhile India stumper has said that he offered to be consultant for this all-important tour, but nothing positive was forthcoming from the powers.
Doshi wants India to go into the Oval Test with nothing short of a win-at-all-cost frame of mind after Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men surrendered the World No I Test crown to England here on Saturday.
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The defeat increased the scoreline to 3-0 in the hosts' favour. When informed that skipper Dhoni wanted to forget the three losses and view the Oval Test as a one-off Test, Doshi said: "I don't know all that. All I can say is that we have to play for pride. Pride is in winning the next Test match and not trying to draw the game.
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In doing so (trying to win), if we closely lose 0-4, I don't mind. I would rather go all out and win."
Asked whether India should include left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha instead of leg-spinner Amit Mishra, Doshi said: "In my view, you have to play the best available bowlers. At the end of the day, their job is to take 20 wickets. The think-tank has to sit down and decide how they are going to take 20 wickets. And they have to go for it. It's as simple as that."
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