Reports | Vidarbha players unhappy after BCCI overlook them for India Under-23 setup
Despite winning the Under-23 One-day championship title and reaching the semifinal of the Col CK Nayudu Under-23 Trophy last season, Vidarbha players have been ignored by the BCCI for the forthcoming U-23 home series against Bangladesh. As a result, the players have now lashed out at the decision.
Under Faiz Fazal’s captaincy, Vidarbha won both Ranji Trophy and Irani Trophy titles in 2017-18 and 2018-19 season and there were many who deserved to get a call from national selectors. And yet on May 15 this year, none of Vidarbha's players featured in initial India ‘A’ teams for Sri Lanka ‘A’ and West Indies ‘A’ series.
However, two days after the declaration of the teams, the selectors made a change to India ‘A’ team as they added Vidarbha allrounder Aditya Sarvate for the Sri Lanka ‘A’ series.
And this time, the BCCI has again chosen to ignore the Vidarbha players for the forthcoming Under-23 home series against Bangladesh. Though many former players and officials in VCA were surprised after no Vidarbha player featured in Indian team, they said they have gotten used to getting ignored.
"Our junior players have always performed well. However, they never get rewarded for their performance," a former Vidarbha player said, according to TOI. "We have seen what happened with former wicketkeeper Amit Deshpande in late 90s. Things haven’t changed much. Faiz scored an unbeaten 55 against Zimbabwe on his ODI debut in 2016. He is still waiting for his next India call. At least, he should have been in India ‘A’ teams," he added.
"We expected Choudhury, Rekhade or Dubey to get a call. They have already attended NCA camp this summer. It is unfortunate, but we must respect decision of national selectors. Players will have to take such blows in their stride and come up with better performances," a VCA official said.
"Look at Faiz. Despite getting ignored so many times, he keeps scoring runs. That’s the way to go in domestic circuit. You have to be hopeful and keep performing," the official added.