‘Rohit did not get fair treatment’

One of the best decisions I made as part of the group of selectors was for the tour to New Zealand in 1990. We had decided to get a completely new-look team and we brought in 7-8 fresh faces. The most important thing for a selector then becomes to back a player. If you have picked somebody on ability,then you need to have faith in that person’s ability and yourself as well. Tom Graveney,one of England’s best players,had a poor start in his Test career but then got 170 odd in his next game against us.

Domestic cricket must still be given the highest priority. If I had to pick someone to replace the top order,I would look for correctness of play. When Sachin was picked he was technically very assured. Nowadays I am aghast to see that we are facing the same traditional problems against the ball leaving the off stump,and the rising delivery.

I personally think that Rohit Sharma has been given a rough deal by the selectors. He first got a chance in Australia and he performed really well on surfaces that were really difficult to bat on. I think the selectors have forgotten about him.