Former India captain and coach Wadekar believes the return of ICL youngsters to the BCCI fold will increase the country's bench strength
Former India captain and coach Wadekar believes the return of ICL youngsters to the BCCI fold will increase the country's bench strength
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Former India captain Ajit Wadekar believes the return of the majority of Indian Cricket League players to the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) fold will substantially bolster the national talent pool. He believes there are quite a few ICL players who are promising enough and can make their mark at the national scene in time to come.
"Abhishek Jhunjhanwala, Shridhar Iyer, Sujay Tarfader, Stuart Binny, Abdul Azeem Khan, Alfred Absolom Ambati Rayudu, G Vignesh and S Sriram are some very promising players who impressed me in the ICL matches. They have the talent and temperament. Given proper opportunities at the first-class level they will prove themselves," Wadekar told MiD DAY yesterday.
Former India coach and chairman of selectors, Wadekar, was also with the ICL is among 101 cricketers who have taken advantage of the amnesty scheme launched by the BCCI for those linked with the Subash Chandra-promoted rebel league to apply for a return to the official body.
Senior pros
"Even though Dinesh Mongia, Hemang Badani and Abbas Ali are senior players, they are still good enough to make a comeback," added Wadekar, who had a close look at the performances as match-referee in ICL matches.
Wadekar praised the BCCI for their decision to give another chance to all these players. "It's a magnanimous decision on the part of the BCCI. These players have been doing extremely well but were short of practice.
With real match practice, they will come up to the expectations. The best thing is it will increase India's bench strength."
No discrimination
The one fear these players have is of discrimination by their parent associations who may still harbour the feeling of betrayal when they decided to sign-up with the ICL. Wadekar however was confident the ICL players would not be victimised. "I am confident only the performances will matter in selection. No one will want their teams to suffer. It's like we had Mumbai players going to play for other states like Assam, Tripura or Himachal Pradesh. When they returned, the MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) always welcomed them. That should be the attitude."
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