Chief selector MSK Prasad reacts to Sunil Gavaskar’s criticism

The current Indian selection committee led by former wicketkeeper MSK Prasad has come under all sorts of criticism. While it is being slammed over team selection at one time, on other occasions, the members’ own playing experience at the international level comes under scrutiny.

However, the biggest criticism that Prasad’s team has faced till now came from former great Sunil Gavaskar who called the selectors “lame ducks” not only because they were nearing the end of their tenure but also because they were reportedly unable to call a spade a spade when it came to handling the team management.

The five wise men of Indian cricket have a combined experience of playing in just 13 Tests and often, they are attacked over that aspect. While Prasad, Sarandeep Singh, and Devang Gandhi played a few Tests, the remaining two members – Gagan Khoda and Jatin Paranjape did not feature in the longer format ever. Khoda and Paranjape played in just two and four ODIs respectively.

Taking a dig at the selectors, the 70-year-old Gavaskar said, “Speaking of lame ducks, the Indian selection committee appears to be one. This is probably one of the last selections for this committee as a new one will get appointed soon. Hopefully, that will have players of stature who will not get bullied and be able to tell the team management that their job is to play with the team chosen by the selectors.”

The batting legend was particularly angry with the selection committee saying it didn’t dispute captain Virat Kohli’s position as a captain despite India’s “much below par” performance at the recently held World Cup. Another former batsman Sanjay Manjrekar though disagreed with Gavaskar.

Prasad, though, tried to take Gavaskar’s criticism in the right spirit. When asked in an interview with an agency whether such comments like “lame duck” hurt him, Prasad said it is “very unfortunate” but added that such criticism made the selection committee “stronger, committed and united”.

‘We have the utmost respect for legendary cricketers’

“It is very unfortunate. We have the utmost respect for the legendary cricketers. Every opinion expressed by them is taken in right earnest. They have their viewpoints which is well-received. In fact, more than getting hurt by this kind of comments, it only makes this selection committee stronger, committed and united,” Scroll.in cited the interview in which Prasad was quoted as saying.

On the question of selectors having lesser stature as players, Prasad said such instances are there in other countries as well where people with big playing experience are found working under those who have not been prominent players. Every job has its own demands, the 44-year-old said.