Ignoring flaws

Sir, — What's going on in Indian cricket? Despite repeated poor performances Parthiv Patel is retained in the squad time and again. It's strange that he gets chance after chance to prove himself.

If a player has shown no improvement as a wicket-keeper after playing 18 Tests, why are his flaws ignored?

His debut in Test cricket itself was a surprise. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar played for a year for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, before being picked in the Indian side, but Patel directly got into the side without playing a single Ranji Trophy match. Parthiv is yet to play for his home state but is considered good enough to play for India.

Players like Ajay Ratra, Dinesh Kaarthik, Ramesh Powar and Sanjay Bangar were not given such a long rope to prove themselves.

It is sad that when the team loses, players like Aakash Chopra and Rohan Gavaskar are made scapegoats.

It's time the selection is done on pure merit rather than lobbying. The zonal based selection should be stopped. Selector's should be paid and prominent cricketers should be given the job. If the selectors can't do an impartial job, why not ask the public to vote for the team on the Internet?

Bhavesh Barot, MumbaiOf Caribbean resurgence

Sir, — It was heartening to read the Cover Story "A welcome positive step" (The Sportstar, Oct. 9) by Ted Corbett on West Indies victory over England in the ICC Champions Trophy. He has clearly described how "the world is waiting to welcome a new era of Caribbean triumph."

The West Indies is a blend of youth and experience. The World's best batsman (at least for his world record score in Tests and first class cricket) Brian Lara is the captain, with the promising Ramnaresh Sarwan as his deputy and the evergreen Chanderpaul in the side. The sensational Gayle as an opener and new found Tino Best, Fidel Edwards and Bravo are proving themselves and promising to bring the Calypso Charmers to the top of the world.

Yes, the West Indies requires a good replacement for Ridley Jacobs. Lara's contribution as a captain sometimes creates confusion but as Ted Corbett has rightly pointed out "captaincy in West Indies will always be difficult for any captain... " for one reason or another.

The West Indies Cricket Board must take proper action to repair the damage of petty politics to revive the team with a few changes because the world cricket lovers eagerly await to welcome a new era of West Indies cricket.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, FaridabadFantastic articles

Sir, — I have been a regular reader of The Sportstar for the past 15 years, and your magazine has only shown signs of improvement. The articles are fantastic, and make some interesting points.

Your regular `cast' of Rohit Brijnath, Nirmal Shekar, are good. Recent additions like Waigankar are also welcome. Amrit Mathur makes some excellent comments due to his association with the team, as does Gavaskar.

The recent articles by Waigankar where he made the point about Ganguly and this team refusing to be drawn into mind games was well-written, and Brijnath wrote an excellent piece just before the commencement of the India-Australia series.

If Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar too are roped in I am sure their viewpoints will also make interesting reading. Of late Ted Corbett has been going from bad to worse.

Prithvi, Chennai