In India there is a general perception that a player over the age of 30 should not be made to make an international debut. But I was looking at the case of Michael Hussey and his success at the international level and wondered if there was anyone of comparable experience, talent and form to get into the national side. The first name that I came across was Amol Mazumdar. So I just pulled out his domestic record and this is what I get.
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | 100 | 50 | Ct | St |
|---|
| 127 | 192 | 22 | 8685 | 260 | 51.08 | 22 | 50 | 140 | 0 |
Now let us look at Michael Hussey and his domestic record.
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | 100 | 50 | Ct | St |
|---|
| 193 | 345 | 33 | 16956 | 331* | 54.34 | 44 | 75 | 209 | 0 |
OK, the Hussey record is so much superior. No comparisons. He has played more games and scored tons more centuries. Also the Australian domestic competition is at a much higher level. But we had our own Sachins and Dravids coming through our own ‘inferior’ domestic seasons. So!!!! But I am interested in a couple of factors here.
1. They are both approximately the same age.
2. They both have a very similar batting average.
3. In about 70 odd more matches, Hussey has scored about 20 more centuries and 25 more fifties.
My point is in the next 8 tests, if Mazumdar can score about 800 odd runs at an average of 40 odd with about 2 or 3 centuries we have got someone who is doing better than what Sehwag has done. Can we see if there are other comparable over 30 candidates out there. Mazumdar is in good nick now, Mumbai has won the Ranji Trophy, and if Mazumdar can do better than what I want him to do, he could even be considered India captain! Anyway we are speculating and this is an India fansite!!
– Sanjay
i3j3Cricket :: A blog for fans of Indian cricket... 
Sorry Sanjay – I disagree.
Amol Mazumdar, from memory scored a double hundred on debut for Mumbai which at that time was a world record and he was billed as another Mumbaikar all set to make it to the Indian team.
But he just hasn’t lived up to his reputation. He hasn’t even topped the score he set in his first innings. If you look at this year’s Ranji stats – he is not in the top 5 either in run aggregate or average. Why would you pick him over Tiwary (who averages a Bradmaneque 99.50) or Uthappa (who has scored 4 centuries and 3 half centuries) this season?
He has been around for such a long time that you wouldn’t give him a chance unless he does something exceptionally brilliant.
I saw a couple of innings this year in the Ranji super league and he seemed so much in control. He also guided a fairly new look Mumbai team to the Ranji victory. Definitely Tewary and Uthappa are ahead but just that Mazumdar’s experience should be given consideration. I only wanted to see if India can afford to look at some of the older guys.
I think it would be good to also look at prospects other than the “young brigade”. In that context, this becomes an interesting angle to look at too, as Team India rebuilds itself. It would be interesting to see whether there are other Amol Mazumdar’s out there too. For example, I think Dinesh Mongia and Venugopal Rao deserve another look too.
You’ve got a point. We can’t pick just 19 year olds and hope they perform. We need a few experienced campaigners as well.
This is where I think S. Badrinath will be a good pick. He has had a relatively bad Ranji season, but has still averaged around 48 and being 26 years old, he probably has the maturity to adapt quickly at the international level.
A mix of young 19 -21 and some experienced players (25 – 27) would be good. Some of these experienced players did not any chance in the last 5 – 6 years.
Venugopal Rao – the next Laxman ?
Dinesh Mongia – last English cricket season
S. Badrinath – ?
Vidyut – ?
There were a couple of reasons why Mazumbdar missed out other than what mahesh has pointed out:
1. Because of the regional selection policy which is nothing more than horse trading. There was Tendulkar, and Agarkar already established in the team and then there was Jaffer. In recent times Powar (not to mention Zaheer Khan who moved to Mumbai) and the ‘quota’ was complete.
2. Besides, the middle order was packed with established players and the only place he would possibly get in was opening. So, there was no strong case for the zonal selector to push Mazumdar.
As of now though, they can consider him for Bangladesh. We need a mixture of youth and experience. Mazumdar will be familiar with the condition and captaining Mumbai would have given him the maturity.
Vidyut? This must be the height of regional-bias! Boy, please open the other eye too gnbmdr. Being one-eyed can hurt.
We are talking of experienced players who perhaps need to do a Michael Hussey for India. In this context, Vidyut is not even in the frame, I think.
If we look around the country among the more experienced ones in form, Badrinath has been a strong prospect for the last couple of years. Laxman will probably come back in as well. Venugopal Rao is in good form this season I think.
My team of 12 for the Bangla ODIs will be:
-R Uthappa
-M Dhoni
-R Dravid
-Y Singh
-R Sharma
-D Karthik
-I Pathan
-R Pawar
-J Sharma
-M Patel
-Z Khan
-H Singh
…and the tests will be
-W Jaffer
-G Gambhir
-R Dravid
-V Laxman
-R Sharma
-D Karthik
-J Sharma
-R Pawar
-A Kumble
-M Patel
-R Bose
-S Sreesanth
-Vish
Vish – Your ODI team is fine, but Badrinath in the test team would be a better fit than Rohit Sharma. Also, how come you do not have Yuvraj and Zaheer in the test team?
I also think changes to the team (at least the test team) should be done gradually…
PS – Did you include yourself in the test team too 😉
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I completely agree with Sanjay’s assessment on Mazumdar. I happened to watch those couple of games as well with Sanjay in December. Not only did he play well (the innings against Punjab on a seaming Mohali wicket was special, he scored a hundred with 9,10 and jack), he with the help of Nilesh Kulkarni took Mumbai from near elimination to the title.