Valthaty brings selectors' role under scrutiny

Paul Valthatys Indian Premier League showing for Kingsu00a0XI Punjab makes one wonder what stopped the selectors from picking him for mumbai in firstclass cricket An average Mumbai cricket lover knows the names of talented young cricketers in the city Isnt it an irony then that they ask Paul who after Paul Valthatys exploits in the Indian Premier League Kings XI Punjabs Paul Valthaty celebrates after scoring a century during the IPL match against Chennai Super Kings at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on April 13 PICAFPIts said a player has to have three Ds dedication devotion and discipline ufffd but one may say he has to have three Ts ufffd talent temperament and tenacity ufffd as well What Valthaty possessed was alphabet T till a Bangladeshi bowler on an underprepared pitch in Auckland hit his eye through the visor of his helmet in an Under19 World Cup match in 2002 Sighting the ballOne could see a small hole in his right eyelid He did start playing after eight months but could sight the ball properly only two years later when he was 22 The two vital years that he lost began to haunt him Healing process of a soft area takes time Valthaty was reconciled to the fact that no matter what he did it would take time to heal But the followers of the game didnt know the gravity of his injury nor did anyone think of enquiring about his recovery He was part of Dilip Vengsarkars academy for a decade and played only for Fort Vijay club from the age of 16 till last season At both places he was encouraged by his teammates especially during those two yearsThe technical brilliance backed by unflinching temperament that Valthaty showed in the last week and a half vindicates Vengsarkars judgment about his class The former India captain was instrumental in picking Valthaty for the Under19 World Cup though the latter hadnt performed in trial matches Why hasnt Valthaty played Ranji Trophy for Mumbai needs to be explained by the selectors The point is if only performance and not talent is the criteria do we need experienced paid selectors Surely a group of statisticians can select the teamThe principle of Mumbai batsmanship is to grind the opposition and aim for a threedigit score But when a genuine strokeplayer keeps timing the ball like Sandeep Patil used to do a question is asked whether he will survive against quality opposition And thats how Patil missed the 1979 World CupValthaty presents a good case study Should he conform to the principle of Mumbai batsmanship or play his natural game Did Sanath Jayasuriya and Virender Sehwag change their approach to batting when they were picked No They entertained cricket loversThe best compliment to Valthaty was paid by Bishan Singh Bedi who said He isu00a0 technically a very organised player who knows what he is doing He gets into a position that allows him to play his shots He plays on the merit of the ball and backs his instinct and that to me is very important Tiger Pataudi who also suffered an eye injury touches on the psychological aspect There were several moments when I was about to give up because I kept getting out for no apparent reason Nobody with an eye injury would have batted the way young Valthaty did said PataudiValthaty fought hard and never ever thought of giving up the game he loved most This season despite being second highest scorer for Mumbai in the West Zone T20 league Valthaty was dropped for the knockout round Its time the men whou00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 matter got their thought process right Vijay Manjrekar once said If we give undue importance to performance and not talent Mumbai will produce first class batsmen of secondclass bowling in a thirdclass tournamentOnce talent is identified its the grooming process that matters Sadly that process in Mumbai cricket is missing Apart from being a cricket writer Makarand Waingankar is involved in cricket development He was chief coordinator of the Bombay Cricket AssociationMafatlal Bowling Scheme spearheaded by Frank Tyson in the early 1990s Later he was involved in the BCCIs Talent Resource Development scheme