Deserving Jayaram out of core group

Strange are the selection criteria of the Badminton Association of India (BAI). Instead of rewarding players who perform well, they are dropped. Take the instance of Ajay Jayaram, who made it to the semi- finals of the Malaysian Open last month — he lost to World No. 1 and the eventual winner Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.

Yet despite his superlative show, he does not find himself in the list of 16 men’s shuttlers shortlisted by the BAI for the Commonwealth Games.

The BAI has cut down the list of players in the core group from 40 to 27, which includes 11 women shuttlers. Jayaram also won the Smiling Fish tournament in Bangkok in March, becoming the only Indian men’s player to win a title at the international level this year.

What is even more baffling is the fact that the probables include the names of a couple of junior talented shuttlers — HS Pranay and Sai Praneeth. It must be mentioned that both of them have virtually nothing to show at the international level. Incidentally, both train in the Gopi Chand Academy in Hyderabad, run by the chief national coach.

The 21 year old Jayaram, who practises at the Tata Padukone Academy in Bangalore, has better credentials than both juniors. When asked why Jayaram was omitted from the core group, a selection committee members said that in the men’s singles at the CWG, India can field only two leading shuttlers.

“ So even if he (Jayaram) was to be selected, that would not make much of a difference as for the competition only the top two players would have got the opportunity to play,” the selector said on condition of anonymity.

But the selection committee member had no reply when asked how the pruned list included the names of Pranay and Praneeth.

“ I have nothing to say as regards to the selection of Pranay and Praneeth in the core group,” he clarified.

When queried on Jayaram’s absence from the core group, Dinesh Khanna, former Asian champion and government observer in the BAI, said that, while pruning the squad, certain parameters were observed.

“ I cannot elaborate on them, but talent and track record are two of the main criteria which are taken into account,” he said.