'Nothing to worry'

MCA president Ajay Shirke douses fear of losing lone foreign player Enamul Haque after the tweaker was picked in national probables for the home series against New Zealand

Pune Mirror, September 28, 2008 Suhrid Barua

There was great deal of consternation in the cricket circles of Maharashtra cricket when Y Venugopal Rao choose to withdraw from the team for the 2008-09 Ranji season, opting to ply his skills for Rajasthan. Then came the BCCI's one foreign player norm which effectively ruled former Sri Lankan left-arm seamer, Sujeeva De Silva out of the selection equation, leaving Bangladesh left-arm spinner Enamul Haque jnr as the only foreign player of the State for the coming season.

Even his availability has come under the scanner after the left-arm tweaker was picked in the 24-men national probables for the forthcoming home series against New Zealand. The lurking fear is that if Enamul gets handpicked in the final 14 or 15 for that series, how can he make himself available for Maharashtra's Ranji campaign which begins with a tie against Tamil Nadu on November 3.

What is pertinent here is that Bangladesh would be in the middle of a tough tour of South Africa commencing on November 5.Clearly, from the looks of it, the Sylhet-born tweaker, provided he is picked in the final 14 or 15, looks all set to miss at least three of Maharashtra Ranji games against Tamil Nadu (Nov 3-6), Andhra (Nov 10-13) Uttar Pradesh (Nov 24-27).So does the Maharashtra Cricket Associatiion (MCA) have any contingency plans in place if Enamul does national duty. "Why are you reading so much into Enamul's selection in the national probables? We are not dimwits sitting here. We do our homework well," fumed MCA president Ajay Shirke.

The MCA 'big boss' have his reasons not to lose much sleep over this development. "See, Enamul is the second-choice spinner in the Bangladesh side. Shakib Al Hasan is their first-choic spinner. I am pretty sure that Bangladesh would not pick two spinners for the South African tour where conditions are more conducive for fast bowlers. So, on that count, we feel we will be able to secure the services of Enamul for the whole season," he said.

Shirke says it is unfair for people to jump the gun when certain decisions are taken with a lot of factors in mind. "I am regularly in touch with Enamul and also in Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons. We know what we are doing," he added