Cricket is a simple game. If you don’t perform for long, no matter how talented or popular you are, you will be dropped. India dropping its captain Rohit Sharma for the ongoing SCG Test was the latest example of it.
However, in the Jammu Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), a few players have been playing for years without any solid performance at all. The selectors and people sitting in the JKCA administration term them “talented” and hence feel they can’t be dropped.
But in a region like J&K where there is no dearth of talent, giving a few players such a long rope raises questions of nepotism.
Shivansh Sharma, the wicket-keeper batter, has played 7 first-class matches and scored 187 runs at an average of 20. His lone good performance came in the Ranji Trophy against Maharashtra on a road-like wicket at Srinagar.
Shivansh has also played 5 One-Days and scored 26 runs at an average of 6. In T20s, he is yet to open his run account in the two matches he has played so far. These numbers are horrific, especially when his competitors like Kanhaiya Wadhwan are pilling huge runs.
Shivansh should have been part of the U-23 team but it is still a mystery how he continues to play almost every match.
Sahil Lotra, the off-spinning all-rounder, has similar stats across the formats. He averages 20 in first class, 29 in One-days and 6 in T20s. He also has just taken 8 wickets in 13 one-day, 16 wickets in 13 first-class and 3 wickets in 8 T20 matches.
Middle-order batter Shubham Pundir, who has been around for a long, long time, has also dismal numbers to his name. He averages 25, 27 and 24 in 28 FC, 41 OD and 42 T20 matches, respectively. How someone with such terrible numbers has played so many matches is again a huge mystery.
The interesting part is all three of them still continue to be part of the J&K team across the three formats. They perform once in a season and then continue to get chances. It is especially unfair to all those talented players who have been waiting for a single chance for years.