IPL or CLT20; Selection matters

Note : This is an out and out satirical take on the present T20 tournaments, all the quotes below are not true.

What is common between the Ranji Trophy, the Sheffield Cup, the Cyldesdale Pro40 tournament ? Each one of these acts as a launchpad for the domestic cricketers to set foot onto the international arena. And over the last 3-4 years, the Indian Premier League and the Champions League T20, have been the one stop, sorry two stop shop for all the selectors from different countries to pick their national teams. If you perform well in any of these formats, you are definitely in the running to get international call-ups.

Shane Watson was quoted as saying,”If it weren’t for Shilpa Shetty, I would never have been where I am today”. Though the Indian was busy focusing their cameras on the kiss that Richard Gere inadvertently laid on Shilpa Shetty, they were not too far behind in capturing the contribution of Shilpa in Watson’s growth. Shilpa said,

Well Watto got the balls in the right places, he knows how and when to use them… I just helped him to adjust in the subcontinent conditions, by investing more time and money in him.

And then Shane Watson was made a permanent opener for Australia in all the 3 formats of the game. Similar stories hold good for Shaun Marsh, who received a similar comment from Preity Zinta. She in fact once said,

Its great to have Shaun back home. He is very good at picking the gaps and inserting his shots in the right areas.

So T20 tournaments have played a great role in selections for a lot of budding talents. After the match winning knocks by Malinga against CSK and T&T in the CLT20, 2011, Sri Lankan cricket board are now considering dropping Kumar Sangakkara because they have found a fantastic batsman to bat at No.3 and who can bowl as well. Sangakkara has been having a difficult time ever since he was dumped by the Preity franchise. SLC also found a way to capitalize on the selection by getting Mr.Mukesh Ambani sponsor their local T20 tournament after giving Malinga the No.3 slot.

Andy Flower, after watching JJ Smuts hit all over the place, tweeted, ”Well we have found an able opener to replace Alistair Cook. This is getting closer to making my dream team, an all African players unit”. But Murali Kartik with the regular snubbing that he is getting from the Indian Selection, has sought Sachin’s help into talking with Flower on allowing atleast one player outside of Africa to play for England. Since Flower obviously is in debt to Sachin for his role in recalling Bell at Nottingham, the Zimbabwean immediately accepted the proposal. Flower later Google plussed,”Now I deserve the Best Spirit Award for 2011-2012”.

And last but not least,the Indian team for the ODI series against England was announced a few days ago in Chennai. Chief Selector Kris Srikkanth has made a wise decision in picking R Sharma. He had in his mind Rohit Sharma (who is still nursing an injury from the previous tour), and listed down R Sharma much to the surprise of Dhoni. But Mohinder Amarnath being an ardent Maharastra supporter did not bother to alert Kris. But a lot of the cricketing websites and national newspapers expanded the R to be Rahul and gave Rahul Sharma his first national call up. Rahul Sharma who was then getting his eye tested at Sankara Nethralaya at the time of the announcement, ran out of his ophthalmologist’s chair shouting Eureka, according to a few clear visioned eye witnesses. He thanked the media for showing immense confidence and support shown for him and has promised a good display. Srikkanth though was unavailable for comment since he had a CSK fan meet headed by his son Aniruddha.

That’s all folks. Tune in today evening to know whether CSK gets past the group stages or exists CLT20 finishing last with two points.