That Raj and the current raj!

When I first started contributing to this newspaper as a freelance writer in 1988 I was amazed at the number of interviews the late Raj Singh Dungarpurmdashthe then chairman of the national selection committeemdashgave to cricket reporters all over the countryHe copped his share of criticism especially after he dropped Mohinder Amarnath for the 198889 tour of the West Indies countered his critics and always stuck to his gunsThose were days when the BCCI didnrsquot organise many press conferences after major selection meetings They donrsquot do so now too but there was a time when chief selectors interacted with the media on a regular basis Ramakant Desai Kishan Rungta Chandu Borde Dilip Vengsarkar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth faced the media regularlySportsworld magazine was one publication that interviewed Raj Singh often Their prolific and brilliant cricket writer Mudar Patherya once wrote an open letter to chief selector Raj Singh in which he called him ldquoarticulate and one of the few accessible burra sahebs of the BoardrdquoAs the year 1989 was approaching its end Kolkatabased Patherya travelled to Mumbai and interviewed Raj Singh after the team for the 198990 tour of Pakistan was picked That Test sidemdashthe last one before the Mohammed Azharuddin captaincy era beganmdashhad a 16yearold Sachin Tendulkar but not Mohinder Amarnath 39Patherya posed Raj Singh a question about what would he have done if given a choice to pick either ldquoan old cricketer who was capable of delivering the goods or a young one who may go phutrdquo The question ended with ldquoIs youth an excuse for selectionrdquo And Raj Singh replied ldquoSelection my friend is never an excuse Itrsquos an exercise in collective wisdomrdquoRaj Singh batted for youth and had no qualms in saying so in his media interactions He made it his business as it were to create his team of the 1990s and he succeeded to an extentThere was some talk about Tendulkar being taken to the West Indies in 1988 and I wonder what Raj Singh said to justify keeping him behind But he told me many years later that his selection committee held Tendulkar back because they were apprehensive over him spending nearly two months on tour without his parentsBack to Patheryarsquos 1989 interview with Raj Singh Tendulkar figured towards the end Q If Salil Ankola could have been chosen because manager Borde can nurse him in Pakistan couldnrsquot Amarnath also have nursed Tendulkar A I donrsquot want to answer Two questions later Raj Singh walks offSportsworld got Raj Singh again a few months later This time the interviewer was Andy OrsquoBrien They spoke among many issues about Ravi Shastri captaining India for just one Test in 1988 Azharuddin was skipper by then Raj Singh came up with an explanation ldquoI thought he Shastri was going to be Indiarsquos future captain long before I became a selector for the second time In 1986 when I was the manager of the Indian team in England he was my vicecaptain and I could quite clearly see that he was captaincy material But it all fell apart Why Because I think he was mentally and physically totally stalerdquoRaj Singh was reflective resourceful and radiant Doubtless he was one of the finest nonTest cricketers to hold the chief selectorrsquos post He stayed available to the media even when he put on his BCCI chiefrsquos robeThe other day on Raj Singhrsquos death anniversary I recalled the first time I approached him for a quote He was the BCCI chief in 1998 and there was a storm when one of the vicepresidentsrsquo son was picked for India lsquoArsquo to tour Pakistan I sought Raj Singhrsquos reaction to the controversy at the Cricket Club of India CCI lawns The following day he called the then editor of this newspaper to say he was unhappy with what had appeared under his name I duly made a call to the CCI reception He came on the line clarifying that I had quoted him correctly but should have used more of his utterances Itrsquos another matter that our professional relationship blossomed after that bump What is important is Raj Singhrsquos willingness to talk no end about issues that mattered By the way he justified the selection of the BCCI vicepresidentrsquos son ldquoSo what if he is the son of an official Hasnrsquot this happened before He may not be a bowler who is very close to playing for India but he is good to be in this lsquoArsquo team He has a good outswingerrdquo Raj Singh told meToday journalists get no official explanations Itrsquos not chief selector Chetan Sharmarsquos fault Itrsquos the BCCI top bosses who should realise that important inclusions and omissions need explanations to the media How else for example will the public know why Mohammed Shami is among the standbys for Indiarsquos T20 World Cup squad and not in itToo much of a good thing is detrimental For how long will BCCI continue releasing silent movies after silent movies and expect the public to lap them upmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper