Vengsarkar's comment about talent in India

[Django]

The following is an excerpt from the article on www.cricinfo.com on the India team slected for South Africa:

.........The most worrying aspect was Vengsarkar's comment on the bench-strength, when he said there was "not much talent" around at the domestic level. "There are many who are good at the first-class level," he said," but I cannot say I have seen any exceptional talent."

Despite cricket being the major sport in India, if this is the reality than it is something that needs immediate attention of the adminstrators.

What do the Indian cricket fans have to say on this subject?

[batoutofhell]

it was just bull sh** from a arrogant selector
this fella always dislked the greg chappel and dravid
so it clearly reflects in his attack of the bench strength
if he is that much sure about bench strength then why did not he chose gambhir instead of over rated raina or ever flopping kaif
true indian fan won't give a damn about mr vengsarkar's word who always played for himself rather than the team during his days

[vvvrulz]

(Personally I disagree about Kaif overflopping but thats another story)

I don't think Vengsarkar quite realises the raw talent India has at thier disposal, leaving out the likes of VVS Laxman, Gambhir, Balaji, Ramesh Powar, Kumble, Murali Karthik ... the list goes on really. There is plenty of competition within the side and they've got the riches to overthrow just about any team (barring perhaps genuine pace options). The real question has been their ability to utilise this.

[Django]

Perhaps raw talent is there, but the consistency is missing. The last genuine fast bowler that India produced was Srinath. Similarly after Sachin, Dravid and co. retire, there is no one to take their place purely in terms of consistency. On the spinners front too, once India was considered to be "the place" for growing top class spinners. In the last 25 years, India has produced two quality spinners in Kumble and Harbhajan. It is very clear that the focus of BCCI is on making money from the game and nothing else. Look at Australia.... the pool of raw talent available is simply amazing, and enough to make a second 11 capable of beating most test playing countries!

I would tent to agree with Vengsarkar's comments that there is indeed shortage of genuine talent which can consistently serve India over a period of time.

[greg]

Interesting comment by Vengsarkar.

Personally i think India's pace department is stronger now than at any time i can remember as they have 3 or 4 who you could argue deserve a place where as in previous years they relied solely on Kapil Dev and then Srinath with no back up at all.Yes they may not yet be consistant but when they have a little more experience they will get better.

The one thing that would worry me if i was an Indian would be a lack of spinners,who is the replacement for Kumble who can't go on for ever? He will be missed as much as the Aussies will miss Warne and Sri Lanka will miss Murali when he retires.

[Django]

We are talking about "bench strength" which is definately not worth talking about. Raina and Kaif are not performing in SA, is there any one available to replace any one of them. India has to go back to Laxman and Ganguly, whihc is very sad for a country where cricket is a religion.

Even the fast bowlers, there are more of them in terms of numbers, but, as yet, they are too inexperienced to be put into "top quality" category. Moreover beside the existing lot, there is no up and coming talent coming through the domestic cricket.