No player should be in a position to dictate his selection without playing adequate domestic cricket: Mohinder Amarnath

Mohinder Amarnath, the former Indian cricketer has given out his opinion that the players should not get to pick the matches in which they want to play in international cricket despite not playing domestic cricket for a long time. He didn’t take the name of any particular cricketer but his timing of raising this issue points towards MS Dhoni, who hasn’t played a single match after the 2019 World Cup semi-final.

However, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri have also not ruled him out of the contention going into the marquee event that is scheduled to be played next year in Australia. In the absence of veteran Indian glovemen, Rishabh Pant has been holding the responsibility of wicketkeeping behind the wickets.

The 69-year-old was the vice-captain of 1983 World Cup-winning squad. Mohinder Amarnath played 69 Tests and 85 ODIs for Team India in which he amassed more than 6,000 international runs and grabbed 78 wickets.

Mohinder Amarnath wants players to be selected in the team on merit

The former World Cup winner feels that the current Team India looks settled in all departments and their bench strength also looks strong. In these conditions, no matter how big a player is or what had he achieved for the country should not be drafted directly into the team. As per him, no one is bigger than the game and none of the cricketers holds a right to dictate their terms regarding their selection without playing in domestic cricket for an adequate span of time.

He also added that it will send a wrong message to the hundreds of cricketers across the country, who are working hard in the domestic circuit. Moreover, he recited about the Indian wicketkeepers like Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant and Wriddhiman Saha, who according to him are very talented and should just focus on their future.

“They (India) look a settled side with formidable talent in all departments. The bench strength is tremendous and there are several promising players in the domestic set-up. In such a situation, no player, however big an achiever, is larger than the game. Nobody should be in a position to dictate terms regarding his selection without playing adequate domestic cricket. There is no player who should be able to tell the team that he wants to choose his matches.

“It would be an unhealthy trend to start, particularly when there are hundreds of cricketers across India who are toiling in domestic cricket. This would send a wrong message about merit and hard work to them. Wriddhiman Saha, Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson are all very competent and the thrust should be to look forward,” Mohinder Amarnath wrote in his column for Times of India.