Still waters run deep

Aakash Chopra is unusually candid in this interview with Nagraj Gollapudi, on CricInfo. You can sense the hurt and pain he has had to go through in his 4 years away from the team. He talks in detail about his disappointment at not being considered for the 2007-08 tour of Australia when Virender Sehwag, who was not included in the 24 probables for the tour, got the nod ahead of him on the recommendation of Ian Chappell. (Sehwag has resurrected his career so the move has been forgotten, but had he failed, we would have lost him for good, I fear) Speaking about it, Chopra says:

I wouldn't say I was expecting a call every time the team was announced, but when India toured Australia [2007-08] I was near 100% confident that I'd make it, for the simple reason that my name was in the 24 probables. The only other opener was Gautam Gambhir and he got injured. And I had scored nearly 800 runs in the domestic season. A week before the team was announced I'd scored my second double-century of the season, against Himachal Pradesh. So that was very disappointing. I didn't know what more to do. The last time I played for India I was picked on my domestic performances. You can sulk, crib and cry and it will never make a difference to anyone else.

He makes a very pertinent point - domestic performances do not seem to count for anything, but flashy showings in three-week exhibition extravaganzas with millions watching (IPL) count for more.

If I go out and do a Shaun Marsh and score the maximum number of runs in the next IPL, I'll play for India in ODIs. My performances in the Deodhar Trophy and Ranji one-dayers count for nothing.

I think it is time for a paradigm shift. He needs to do the opposite of what Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer did, and work his way into the team as a #3 (or #4) batsman. To do that he will need to be more vocal about it. I know my voice is probably not reaching him, but if it does, I hope he thinks about this angle seriously.

P.S. By the way, Aakash now has a regular blog on cricket on CricInfo called Beyond the Blues. Check it out.