As I see around as a hardened cricket fan (cum club level cricketer) myself, there are signs of too much cricket and the resultant lack of interest in spectators and fans. The Champions League T20 and the India-England series had depleting crowds and dropping TV viewership. The whitewash in England was such, it combined well with fatigue and helped people save money in economically stressful times.

Like many true fans, I was gettting sick of the sticking to the tried-and-tested men in blue despite their repetitive non-performance in their roles. When a Sehwag is expected to give a fiery opening, a Dravid and a Tendulkar have to build an innings, a Bhajji has to provide strikes as a strike bowler and the pacers have to give wickets at the top.

This was not happening, at least in the bowling department. We were going back to the same old folks who were failing repeatedly. For justifying a place in the test squad for one or more of these players, we were relying on their performance in IPL T20s or of ODIs. I always felt Harbhajan was the greatest beneficiary of them all, despite India having effective bench strength in spin bowling. Bhajji saved his place with an useful 50 here, and a defensive bowling in ODIs (with leg stump line bowled from round the wicket!) but his role was to take wickets which he failed repeatedly. It also appeared that captain Dhoni was given an unnecessarily greater role in selection (If I had time and place to write, I would have assigned that to the tangled roles of his being captain of Team India as well as of Chennai Super Kings, a team owned by BCCI President Mr Srinivasan, with the Chairman of selectors, Mr Srikkanth having a major role in it. I will stop right at that, as this is not my current subject of discussion).

With all of this in the background, the way Indian team was selected for the recent India-England ODI series, and also now for the first India-WI test series clearly shows that the selectors have had enough and have now started investing in youth. This was partly attempted for the India-WI ODI series in the Caribbeans, but when it came to the England tests, we had gone back to all of the old timers, many of whom were not even half fit. When the selectors had chosen a 140+ kph fast bowler like Varun Aaron for the ODI series in England, the lad was not tried for even one match by Dhoni - an act that would have been sufficient for a sacking in the corporate world.

What would have brought about a change in attitudes in the selectors? Whitewash in England? Lesser crowds watching cricket? Losing popularity? Yes, all of this are relevant, but the most important factor as I believe is the inclusion of the no non-sense Jimmy Amarnath in the selection committee. He commands respect, he is unbiased, he wont go by regions, he will certainly look for a balanced Team India with an eye on the future. With two of his 1983 world cup winning colleagues in the committee, they will certainly know what Jimmy is made of. May be the new Indian coach, the experienced strategist Duncan Fletcher, too has wielded his influence in the selection matter, which too is a good sign for Indian cricket.

The selectors have done a great job in terms of selection of bowlers. That they chose to rest Praveen Kumar was absolutely necessary, since he is a certainty for Australia in the absence of Zaheer Khan. That they chose to give Ishanth Sharma a 'test', and select two raw youngsters, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron, who have shown their ability with pace and zip off the pitch, is certainly a move with the Australia series in mind. The best of them all, which has pleased me no ends up, is the selection of the spin trio - one each of a variety, a left armer Pragyan Ozha (strangely ignored for a long time in the recent past), Rahul Sharma (a wonderful leg spinning talent) and Ashwin (a shrewd, thinking off break bowler). By not going back to the Bhajjis, Chawlas and Mishras, the selectors have sent a strong message and I hope they stick to their wonderful decision, even if the youngsters' performance is not exceptional, and show the same patience with the newcomers too.

Now, that first part of the task is achieved by the selectors, they should now make sure that Dhoni implements their long term plans effectively. Dhoni should not hesitate to rest at least one senior batsman in favour of a youngster, otherwise the selection of Rahane and Kohli may not be effective, as Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Yuvraj Singh would take the 6 batting slots.I dont think we will need so much of experience in the middle to face the second string WI bowlers.

It is also essential that we play these tests on lively pitches where our fast bowlers can thrive on, which will also suit the three tall spin bowlers, Ojha, Sharma and Ashwin. Good bouncy pitches will be a good preparation for the Australia series anyway.

Though the test series is against such an opponent, I am sure all fans will be keenly watching the progress, especially of these talented youngsters. I think Jimmy has made all the difference to warrant this.