BCCI does well to review this!

BCCI were lsquotworsquo good at the end of last week Firstly for recognising that there are problems to be sorted out with their menrsquos team and hence the need for a review Secondly for sending out a press release which stated a bit of what was discussed at the review meeting attended by president Roger Binny secretary Jay Shah captain Rohit Sharma head coach Rahul Dravid National Cricket Academy NCA boss VVS Laxman and chief selector Chetan Sharma The press release also mentioned measures to get rid of some problemsShah said in a release ldquoThe emerging players will have to play a substantial domestic season to be eligible for selection to the national team The YoYo Test and Dexa will now be part of selection criteria and implemented in the customized roadmaps of the central pool of playersldquoKeeping in mind the Menrsquos FTP and preparations for ICC CWC 2023 the NCA will work in tandem with the IPL Franchisee to monitor the targeted Indian players participating in the IPL 2023rdquoWhat this means is that the franchises cannot put an injured BCCIcontracted player at risk by asking him to play a crunch game in the IPL Overzealous IPL team setups wonrsquot be jumping for joy at this development but we must be reminded that the IPL is a BCCI domestic tournament and the welfare of its players is paramountAt the heart of Indian cricketrsquos problems are player fitness issues and Binny rightly expressed concerns over this aspect when he took over as BCCI president a few months agoAlso Read What is the Dexa Test BCCIs new mandatory criteria for the selection of playersNow itrsquos time for some action and itrsquos good to see the Board arriving at the forefront to fix this problem Itrsquos a 5050 World Cup year Bowlers batsmen and fielders will have to spend more than double the time they spend on the field as against the shortest form of the game And the more ODIs the Indian team play the better without of course getting overcooked for the mega event on these shoresThere is no shortage of views on how Indian cricket should go about things courtesy wellmeaning former players and discerning followers of the game They want domestic cricket played among Indian players to be valued more than it is nowWhere IPL also a domestic tournament is concerned there is merit in concerns over young guns getting into teams without playing enough toprung state cricketShishir Hattangadi who played Ranji Trophy cricket for Mumbai from 198182 to 199192 the last season as captain reckons that it should be mandatory for players to play all forms of domestic cricket before qualifying to figure in the IPL ldquoThe IPL is a means to an end Itrsquos not the end allrdquo he saysHattangadi until recently the CEO of Baroda Cricket Association fears that there will come a time when Indian players will only want to play whiteball cricket He cited an example of a cricketer who has played T20 cricket for India but has played less than 10 Ranji Trophy games for his state Hattangadi wants to see the Board provide big incentives to Ranji Trophy players and make the national championship more financially rewarding to players so that the soul of the sport is retainedThe recent review meeting reminded me of the one Jagmohan Dalmiya had in New Delhi as BCCI chief with then coach John Wright after the December 2001 India v England Mohali TestThough India had beaten Nasser Hussainrsquos team in that opening Test of the threematch series things had gone awry on the South Africa tourIn Mohali the Indian team sheet didnrsquot have any of these namesmdashJavagal Srinath Zaheer Khan Venkatesh Prasad Ajit Agarkar and Ashish NehraAndrew Leipus the Indian teamrsquos physio had no qualms in revealing in an interview to me at Mohali that Dalmiya sent a fax to the support staff in South Africa wanting to know whatrsquos going wrong with the team Leipus even called a young bowler ldquolazyrdquo during our chatDalmiya was to swing into action soon in the national capital where he met coach Wright and Leipus on the sixth floor of the Taj Palace The duo spoke to the media after the meeting and so did Dalmiya They didnrsquot reveal much but thanks to Wrightrsquos book Indian Summers we later learnt what transpired Wright wrote ldquoIrsquod made up my mind in advance that I wasnrsquot going to be tentative or deferential I told Dalmiya that if he wanted to get Indian cricket right there were issues that had to be tackled whether I remained the coach or not I suggested he should give me some of the things I was asking for and if he was still unhappy in six months show me the doorrdquoWright got Dalmiya to rope in trainer Adrian Le Roux and the South African played a key role in usheringmdashas a midday headline to one of my dispatches from the 2003 World Cup put itmdashThe Fit India MovementA lot of good can come out of review meetings India went on to be a major force in world cricket after the 2001 one that Dalmiya chairedHopefully India will shrug off the ring of vulnerability they seem to be burdened with now and be a tight outfit for this yearrsquos World CupIt is important to be positive in a crisismdashminor or majormdashand it is worth remembering that things donrsquot always look as bad as they seem Indian cricketrsquos problems are fixablemiddayrsquos 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