RedwoodOriginal
Senior T20I Player
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2018
- Runs
- 19,421
- Post of the Week
- 4
Alot of people are surprised at the success of India's bench strength. 13 wickets between their entire bowling attack and still they have ran Australia very close, but attributing it to IPL is just reductive.
Since 2010, Since 2010, India's A team has played 52 FC matches, the most by any team.
Siraj has played 16 A team matches, Saini 14, Vihari 12, Agarwal 10, Gill 8, Shaw 5 and Pant 4
I've been saying for the longest time here that, A team cricket is the best way to build your bench strength. Just FC cricket is not enough, because A team cricket gives players experience in those foreign conditions, and gives them an idea of what test cricket could be like even before they are in the national side
PCB under Wasim Khan seem to understand this a little bit evident by the fact that the side has been rebranded as the Shaheens and A tours are now being arranged. But even on the recent NZ tour we had our main side playing the A team matches. This defeats the purpose of the shadow tour especially when you have arranged just one FC match. The A team should be playing even more matches than the main team or at the very least as much as them and playing in SENA is particularly important.
Before security was an issue behind the willingness of teams to tour but with time I think PCB should start hosting A matches at home aswell. I know Wasim Khan is aware about all these things but I really hope he starts putting it into practice a bit more.
And the funny thing is that its not even just India. It seems all top level team gives credence to the performances of these A tours. Nortje, Labusagne, Ollie Pope, Travis Head, Lutho Sipamla, Duanne Olivier, Rassie vd Dussen, Pieter Malan, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell are just of the names that made it into their respective sides after giving good performances in A cricket.
Mohammad Siraj is not an overnight sensation. He has actually been playing A cricket for 3 odd years, matches in which he got the wicket of someone like Labusagne (who was playing for Australia A) repeatedly.
India has really set the template with their recent performance. Yes its true that they also have standards when it comes to fitness, training, coaches, infrastructure etc. etc. But these A tours, A home series are by far the best thing they have done for their up and coming players. And this is not a recent thing but has been happening for years. In just the last two years their A team has played: South Africa A, West Indies A, New Zealand A, England Lions.
Since 2010, Since 2010, India's A team has played 52 FC matches, the most by any team.
Siraj has played 16 A team matches, Saini 14, Vihari 12, Agarwal 10, Gill 8, Shaw 5 and Pant 4
I've been saying for the longest time here that, A team cricket is the best way to build your bench strength. Just FC cricket is not enough, because A team cricket gives players experience in those foreign conditions, and gives them an idea of what test cricket could be like even before they are in the national side
PCB under Wasim Khan seem to understand this a little bit evident by the fact that the side has been rebranded as the Shaheens and A tours are now being arranged. But even on the recent NZ tour we had our main side playing the A team matches. This defeats the purpose of the shadow tour especially when you have arranged just one FC match. The A team should be playing even more matches than the main team or at the very least as much as them and playing in SENA is particularly important.
Before security was an issue behind the willingness of teams to tour but with time I think PCB should start hosting A matches at home aswell. I know Wasim Khan is aware about all these things but I really hope he starts putting it into practice a bit more.
And the funny thing is that its not even just India. It seems all top level team gives credence to the performances of these A tours. Nortje, Labusagne, Ollie Pope, Travis Head, Lutho Sipamla, Duanne Olivier, Rassie vd Dussen, Pieter Malan, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell are just of the names that made it into their respective sides after giving good performances in A cricket.
Mohammad Siraj is not an overnight sensation. He has actually been playing A cricket for 3 odd years, matches in which he got the wicket of someone like Labusagne (who was playing for Australia A) repeatedly.
India has really set the template with their recent performance. Yes its true that they also have standards when it comes to fitness, training, coaches, infrastructure etc. etc. But these A tours, A home series are by far the best thing they have done for their up and coming players. And this is not a recent thing but has been happening for years. In just the last two years their A team has played: South Africa A, West Indies A, New Zealand A, England Lions.
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