by Veena Gabriel
“Horses for Courses ” that was the reaction of Shane Watson, a talented all rounder, when he was dropped for the second test match against New Zealand.
Shane has an impressive record of 170 runs and 10 wickets in the recently ended Border Gavaskar Series with India. He was even praised for his accomplishment by Ponting , the Team Captain and Steve Waugh.
But as Australian selection committee wanting to appear more flexible in their selection process first dropped Jason Krezja for Brisbane test and than Shane for the Adelaide test. They wanted to select the most appropriate player as per the conditions. Naturally after the debacle of India they cannot afford to be wanting in any area.
But this feeling of uncertainty whether you will be chosen for the next test or will be warming the bench creates a havoc on the peace of mind of any player, Shane included. The condition of adaptation of any player could only be seen if he is allowed to play in any condition; if one is not given any chance how can he show his capability?
Shane is very right in saying that he would prefer to play in as many different conditions as possible than only he would be able to learn and improve .He said that when a player is confident of the environment and it should be player friendly then only he can give his best. When he came to know that he was being dropped for the Adelaide test his morale took a big hit.
Now Ponting needs pacers for the next test with South Africa in Perth starting on 17th December against South Africa. He is planning to take four , one of them being Shane. Ponting thinks that Perth is a fast bowler’s paradise on which spinners will not be very successful. Well he is the Captain, he has the authority to take decisions as he deems fit for the best play of the team, but this ‘in the team or not in the team’ surely undermines the playing capacity of any player.
