Vidarbha coach Chandrakant Pandit stands by Jalaj Saxena, Faiz Fazal after India A snub

For sportspersons, rejection can be too painful to bear. Kerala all-rounder Jalaj Saxena recently tweeted asking what he had done “terribly wrong” after getting ignored for the India A squads that were announced on Tuesday. A number of squads to play one-day and four-day matches against Sri Lanka A and West Indies A were announced. Along with 32-year-old Jalaj, Faiz Fazal, who captained Vidarbha to two Ranji Trophy titles and an Irani Cup crown in recent times, also got snubbed and he came up with a sarcastic tweet asking: “Did we win Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup back to back?”

The timing of the tweets saw the fans latching on them and supported both the players at their tough times. Jalaj has been performing consistently well in domestic cricket, scoring over 550 runs and taking 28 wickets in Ranji Trophy last season. Fazal too had a successful stint with the bat, scoring over 750 runs.

Did we win Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup back to back?

— faiz fazal (@faizfazal) May 14, 2019

What have I done so terribly wrong, to deserve this?

— Jalaj Saxena (@jalajsaxena33) May 14, 2019

Former India cricketer and coach of Vidarbha Chandrakant Pandit has stood by the duo saying both of them deserved to be in the Indian A sides.

Jalaj and Fazal deserved to get selected

“Domestic cricket is organised by the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to find some good talents. There are players who have been performing consistently, and not just in one season. Both Faiz and Jalaj have been performing consistently for the last three-four years. They deserve to get selected, if not in the main team then in the A teams at least,” Sportstar quoted Pandit as saying on Wednesday.

“They must be given opportunities and only then they can feel motivated. Faiz has already played for India (against Zimbabwe in 2016) and he wants to comeback. Jalaj has been doing well. They need to get rewarded for their performances,” Pandit, who was earlier the coach of Kerala, added.

Fazal, 33, has played only one international game so far which was against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2016. He scored 55 not out in the game but did not get a second game.

Pandit conceded that A teams are meant to nurture young blood but he also asserted that performance should be the last word. He said age criterion should not be there for if somebody is performing for three-four years but yet not rewarded, then it demotivates him.

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