Were 'seniors' required for T20?

NAGPUR: When the selectors announced the team for the Central Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trophy, it looked good on paper. The team had big names like Hemang Badani, Sairaj Bahutule and Shiv Sundar Das along with some exciting youngsters. A week later, after the tournament, Vidarbha failed miserably in all departments and finished at the bottom of the table.
Vidarbha, the runners-up in the last edition, were the pale shadow of themselves.They were the best fielding side in the tournament last year. This year, though, was different. This wasn't the same young side who out-fielded the Elite Group teams like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Railways.
The selectors clearly lacked vision by including three players, who are at the wrong side of their 30s. Except for Badani, the other two failed to perform and it had a big impact on team's performance. Das managed only 28 runs at 9.33 at a strike rate of 77.77. Bahutule under-bowled himself in the tournament and except for the game against Madhya Pradesh, he hardly made an impact. Due to their presence, the team management couldn't form the proper combination. Utility players like Himanshu Joshi, Anup Fulper and Urvesh Patel didn't get enough chances.
Interestingly, Das never played Twenty20 for his home state team Orissa. He made his Twenty20 debut during the tournament against Rajasthan days before he turns 34. Bahutule, the newly-appointed captain, will be 39 early next year. The likes of Ranjit Paradkar and Amit Deshpande didn't get a look in because the selectors felt they are too old for the format. While these performing local players - who are much younger - were ignored, the professionals walked in the team just because of the reputation. So, it's clear case of different rules for different people.
"Vidarbha's fielding suffered a lot with the presence of three senior players. It's not their fault. It's the decision selectors had to take. They are contracted players and if VCA wants them to play in Twenty20, they can't say no. Badani has been the part of Chennai Super Kings so his inclusion made sense but there was no point including Bahutule and Das," a Central Zone team official, who doesn't wish to be named, told TOI.
When Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid opted out of 2007 Twenty20 World Cup, they might have realized the need of young legs in the shortest format of the game. Since then the game has developed a lot and many international and domestic sides have gone with the separate teams for separate format.
Last year, Rajsthan Cricket Association (RCA) opted for three professionals-Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Akash Chopra and Rashmi Ranjan Parida-and included them for the Central Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament. The trio couldn't live up to the expectations and Rajsthan finished at the bottom of the table. Probably, their game might not have suited to the format. This year, RCA selectors took a bold decision and didn't include them in the Twenty20 format. So far, their team has performed well.
"It was a conscious decision not to include them in the Twenty20 side. It's youngsters' game. So, we told them about this and they respected our decision. We may also not include them in one-dayers," an RCA official said.
Still, this failure can be an eye-opener for Vidarbha Cricket Association officials. They have invested in the professionals and the key to success will be to use their experience properly. They are proven players in the longer format despite their indifferent form. Their presence will certainly help the youngsters in Ranji Trophy but they were not required in the Twenty20 format.