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Backing of Virat Kohli in 2008 led to my removal as chief selector: Dilip Vengsarkar

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Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar has hinted that his term as chief selector of the BCCI’s national selection committee was cut short in 2008 owing to his backing of current Indian skipper Virat Kohli over Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath, which did not sit well with then BCCI treasurer N Srinivasan

Speaking at a function in Mumbai on Wednesday, Vengsarkar told journalists that his insistence that a teenaged Kohli - who had led India Under-19s to the junior World Cup in 2008 - be added to India’s ODI squad for the tour of Sri Lanka that year was what forced Srinivasan to end his tenure as chief selector. According to Vengsarkar, when the selection committee met to pick the Test and ODI squads for the Sri Lanka tour, he was very keen to hand Kohli a debut in the ODIs but that then captain MS Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten were not convinced.

"I felt this was an ideal situation to include Kohli in the squad. Although the other four selectors agreed with my decision, Gary Kirsten and MS Dhoni were reluctant as they had not seen much of Kohli. I told them that I have seen him and we have to include him in the team,” said Vengsarkar. “I knew that they were keen on keeping S Badrinath in the team because he was a Chennai Super Kings player. If Kohli would have come in, Badrinath would have been dropped. N Srinivasan was the BCCI treasurer at that time. He was upset that Badrinath was dropped because he was their player.”

Vengsarkar, who played 116 Tests and 129 ODIs, took over from Kiran More as chief selector in 2006 and was replaced less than two years later by former team-mate Kris Srikkanth. It was Srinivasan’s influence, alluded Vengsarkar, that saw him lose his job and Srikkanth take over.

adrinath made his ODI debut in the second ODI of the 2008 Sri Lanka tour and played the three matches, with scores of 27*, 6 and 6. Kohli also made his debut in the first ODI and played all five matches, scoring 12, 37, 25, 54 and 31.

"He [Srinivasan] asked me on what basis Badrinath was axed, and I explained that I had been on the Emerging Players tour to Australia where I saw Virat, who is an exceptional player and that is why he is in the team. He argued that Badrinath has scored over 800 runs for Tamil Nadu. I told him that he will get his chance. He then asked, 'When will he get his chance? He is already 29 now'. I told him he will get his chance but I can't tell you when. The very next day, he (Srinivasan) took (Kris) Srikkanth, who later succeeded Vengasarkar as chief selector, to Sharad Pawar, who was the (BCCI) president then and that was the end of my selection tenure," Vengsarkar said.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...tor-dilip-vengsarkar/articleshow/63213191.cms
 
Another guy who wants to become the man who «discovered» Kohli for international level and wants to stay relevant in media.
 
Yes Kohli would have been lost in the system if not for this guy
 
Yes Kohli would have been lost in the system if not for this guy


Why should the chief selector be sacked for selecting a player the BCCI heads dont like? Then Srinivasan himself could have done the full team selection.
 
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Regionalism at its finest.. Happens all the time and will continue to happen forever..

Badrinath was just unlucky that he was born in the wrong era, he would have been a mainstay in Indian team if he was born in any other era however he just couldn’t compete with Dravid, tendu, Laxman, Ganguly in the rest squad.. Then by time he could have got his chance he was over 30 and younger players were preferred..
 
Regionalism at its finest.. Happens all the time and will continue to happen forever..

Badrinath was just unlucky that he was born in the wrong era, he would have been a mainstay in Indian team if he was born in any other era however he just couldn’t compete with Dravid, tendu, Laxman, Ganguly in the rest squad.. Then by time he could have got his chance he was over 30 and younger players were preferred..

Yup this is what happened
 
Regionalism at its finest.. Happens all the time and will continue to happen forever..

Badrinath was just unlucky that he was born in the wrong era, he would have been a mainstay in Indian team if he was born in any other era however he just couldn’t compete with Dravid, tendu, Laxman, Ganguly in the rest squad.. Then by time he could have got his chance he was over 30 and younger players were preferred..

Whatever I have seen of Badrinarh, looked like not so great bat anyway. He was way too slow for the game I felt, may be I saw him when he was not in his peak.
 
Whatever I have seen of Badrinarh, looked like not so great bat anyway. He was way too slow for the game I felt, may be I saw him when he was not in his peak.


Iirc he was a beast in domestics however he was a class below what we had in national team so it’s not like he was hard done by anyone it’s just that he’s unlucky to be born at same time with the GOAT and 1 ATG and 1 border line ATG and 1 Indian great..
 
Regionalism at its finest.. Happens all the time and will continue to happen forever..

Badrinath was just unlucky that he was born in the wrong era, he would have been a mainstay in Indian team if he was born in any other era however he just couldn’t compete with Dravid, tendu, Laxman, Ganguly in the rest squad.. Then by time he could have got his chance he was over 30 and younger players were preferred..

Badrinath was another Kaif.
 
Iirc he was a beast in domestics however he was a class below what we had in national team so it’s not like he was hard done by anyone it’s just that he’s unlucky to be born at same time with the GOAT and 1 ATG and 1 border line ATG and 1 Indian great..

Hmmm.... If he was really that good could have got more opurtunities! second tier among peers then !
 
And people like to pretend that a conflict of interest does not exist in the IPL. This is just one example of a historical injustice. I am sure there are other incidents. Getting Dravid out of the IPL in order to coach the A and U19 teams was a good move.

This is why the likes of Mickey Arthur should not be allowed to coach both Karachi Kings, and have a say in the selection of the national team. He is always susceptible of favouring players from his franchise.
 
Vengsarkar backed Sachin when Sachin was 13 years old.

Talent recognizes talent.
 
And people like to pretend that a conflict of interest does not exist in the IPL. This is just one example of a historical injustice. I am sure there are other incidents. Getting Dravid out of the IPL in order to coach the A and U19 teams was a good move.

This is why the likes of Mickey Arthur should not be allowed to coach both Karachi Kings, and have a say in the selection of the national team. He is always susceptible of favouring players from his franchise.

One of the good things done by Honourable Supreme Court of India was to address conflict of interest issue in BCCI :19:

:srini and others were abusing the system for personal gains !
 
Hmmm.... If he was really that good could have got more opurtunities! second tier among peers then !



I don’t remember how he performed in the chances he got tbh, it’s like Wasim Jaffer was amazing in domestic for years however when he was drafted in Indian cricket team he was mediocre same way Badri might be a beast in domestic but maybe when he got little chances in Indian team he couldn’t capitalise.. Its difficult really because only some talent like Rohit, kohli etc get consistent run in internationals any second or third tier players get limited chances and if they capitalise then good else they fade away..

Harsh truth in a competitive environment as Indian cricket team.
 
How come? Kaif got enough chances in ODI’s atleast.. He had a consistent run in ODI’s for few years. Badri never got that in any format..

Kaif was a fantastic fielder, something which Indian team desperately needed in Odis at that time. Badri was an average fielder and an accumulator while batting, didn't bring anything special with him.
 
Kaif was a fantastic fielder, something which Indian team desperately needed in Odis at that time. Badri was an average fielder and an accumulator while batting, didn't bring anything special with him.



I get that But how does that make Badri another Kaif as you mentioned in the post I quoted??
 
Dhoni is always averse to giving chances to teenagers. He seems to like guys who are between 25-30.

Its not a miracle that since MSD stepped down, our bowling has improved. No more line and length trundlers who bowl and dance to the tunes of MSD.

MSD has been a great servant of Indian cricket. However, fast bowling and great teen talents suffered under him. He was averse to quick bowling and always stuck to a set team no matter what.

Of course MSD kicked out seniors in the team. But he himself does not follow that. He is 38 and still plays T20 Internationals.
 
Dhoni is always averse to giving chances to teenagers. He seems to like guys who are between 25-30.

Its not a miracle that since MSD stepped down, our bowling has improved. No more line and length trundlers who bowl and dance to the tunes of MSD.

MSD has been a great servant of Indian cricket. However, fast bowling and great teen talents suffered under him. He was averse to quick bowling and always stuck to a set team no matter what.

Of course MSD kicked out seniors in the team. But he himself does not follow that. He is 38 and still plays T20 Internationals.


That is exactly why I dislike dhoni. Disgusting fixing issue apart, azhar was better than him. It is another story how he wasted his talent, azhar that is. Similarities too, raju (axar patel of that time), kumble (ashwin of that time) helped his India in India domination. He had good fast bowlers in his earlier part, not so in the last 3-4 of his captaincy, which is why dhoni lost 11-0. Batting was ok too. The opening pair, an exception, was pathetic at his time though (in azhar's time)-all in tests I mean.
 
Kaif was a fantastic fielder, something which Indian team desperately needed in Odis at that time. Badri was an average fielder and an accumulator while batting, didn't bring anything special with him.

Kaif was probably the only Indian player whose primary skill was fielding & catching. Batting came second. And I don't remember him dropping a catch ever.
 
How come? Kaif got enough chances in ODI’s atleast.. He had a consistent run in ODI’s for few years. Badri never got that in any format..

In terms of batting style Badri and Kaif were similar.
 
Dhoni is always averse to giving chances to teenagers. He seems to like guys who are between 25-30.

Its not a miracle that since MSD stepped down, our bowling has improved. No more line and length trundlers who bowl and dance to the tunes of MSD.

MSD has been a great servant of Indian cricket. However, fast bowling and great teen talents suffered under him. He was averse to quick bowling and always stuck to a set team no matter what.

Of course MSD kicked out seniors in the team. But he himself does not follow that. He is 38 and still plays T20 Internationals.

Dhoni is 36, not 38.
 
In terms of batting style Badri and Kaif were similar.


Oh ok in that sense.. I don’t remember Badri’s batting style so can’t comment but I found Kaif’s style a bit ugly or you can say a bit too try hard.. He didn’t have that flowing batting style like yuvi or perfect balance like Sachin or intimidating style.. Found it kinda too darpok style always looking for singles rather than stroke making.. Worked for him though so can’t complain..
 
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