JSCA miffed with decisions of think-tank

Dhanbad: Despite Ishank Jaggi’s heroic double century that helped Jharkhand earn a draw in their Ranji Trophy match against Tripura, Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) secretary Rajesh Verma is miffed with the decision to include three spinners in the playing XI sacrificing the second specialist pacer.
He minced no words to say that the team management’s reading of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium pitch was completely wrong on the opening day when they decided to bat first after winning the toss.However, the match being only the second encounter of the Ranji Trophy 2014-15 season, Verma said it’s too early to bring in any changes. But, if the situation doesn’t improve in their next tie against Kerala at the same ground, there might be some changes in the composition of the think-tank.
“It’s obvious that they read the pitch wrong. The root of all problems lies there. Their anticipation that the pitch will be ultimately a turning track led to the decision of including three spinners and thereby opting to bat first under overcast conditions as they had only one regular pacer,” said Verma.
Asked about the demoralizing body language and lack of intent shown by all the players, Verma said: “Their body language reflected their position in the match. They were low on confidence after losing the first-innings lead and Tripura capitalized on that to take their total to 362.”
Verma also blamed low level confidence for the lack of communication between the dressing room and the players in the middle.
After Tuesday’s play, Verma had a long chat for almost an hour with the entire squad along with the support staff first and then only with captain Saurabh Tiwary and coach V Venkatram. “I asked them to have confidence in themselves because they are good players with lot of potential. They just have to show the intent and application in the middle,” added Verma.
Asked if there will be any evaluation of the entire team management, Verma said: “It’s just the second match (of Ranji), they need our confidence and support now. But if the situation doesn’t improve against Kerala, we will evaluate the entire team’s performance and will have to look for different combinations, may be.”