Why Hardik Pandya's selection is a step backward for the Indian team

When Sandeep Patil came out after his last meeting as the head of BCCI's selection committee after announcing the Test squad for India against New Zealand on September 13, 2016, he had this to say: “We have taken some bold and tough decisions looking at the future of Indian cricket. We are very happy at the end of our term that the team is doing well in all three formats and I wish the next committee all the best.” But on Thursday, it had to be said, with a little bit of hesitation, that Patil's vision has not been fully imbibed by his successors.

The inclusion of players such as Mandeep Singh and Manish Pandey also made sense as both the batsmen played a crucial role in securing the Quadrangular A-Team One-Day series in Australia for India A last month. Jadeja and Ashwin's non-presence only means that leg-spinner Amit Mishra will now be the go-to bowler for MS Dhoni with Axar Patel the second. But the committee seemed to have gone for a lottery for one of the positions. And Hardik Pandya came out as the winner in that.

His exclusion from India's limited-overs squad for the Zimbabwe tour in June was just about right from the Sandeep Patil-led selection panel as Pandya's IPL 2016 stats spoke for themselves. 44 runs and 3 wickets in 11 matches for the Mumbai Indians meant that he still had a lot to prove on the domestic front before he could be considered for the national team again. 

But sources at the BCCI say that the Baroda all-rounder was given a chance in a bid to include a fast-bowling all-rounder for the next year's Champions Trophy in England. Now this means the place for someone like Kedar Jadhav or Mandeep Singh in the team should have been sacrificed to accommodate Pandya. But, if Pandya can be given an undeserved second chance, then Stuart Binny,  as the team's most experienced fast-bowling all-rounder, should be given a shot to redeem himself. Granted Binny has not covered himself in glory in the past three series, but better the devil you know than the one you don't – especially when that unknown has failed to perform at even a lower level.

Jayant Yadav is also another selection where it is hard to explain the committee's decision. Despite being picked up by the selectors for three straight series, Jayant still remains uncapped for India. The Haryana offspinner was expected to get a game when he was first selected for India's tour of Zimbabwe in June. After MS Dhoni decided to go with the combination of Amit Mishra and Axar Patel in that series, Jayant was given a chance in the longer format of the game replacing injured Ishant Sharma in the Indian squad for the second Test against New Zealand after impressive performances for India A.

His inclusion in the ODI squad against the Kiwis is like previous selection panel's idea to include Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary for numerous series just to carry drinks on to the pitch. Also, the selectors ignoring the likes of performances in the Deodhar Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Tournament and Vijay Hazare Trophy in favour of the cash-rich IPL and single tours such as India A's Australian tour only spells missed chances for many of the talented cricketers trying to make it to the Indian team.

 It is not guaranteed that every decision taken by the selection committee will be successful. However, it sometimes borders on the puzzling when you see some names. Given the selection is only for the first 3 ODIs though, the possibility of being dropped for the final two matches will keep the players focussed on performing well in the limited chance they are given.