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Will Chauhan be back?

Anubha Charan

Will Rajesh Chauhan make the cut of 22 when the selection committee sits on Thursday to pick the India 'A' and 'B' teams for the Challenger Trophy?

Will Chauhan even be considered for a place in the pool which will form the picking ground for international tourneys throughout the year?

Regarded not too long ago as the best thing to happen to Indian bowling since the famous spin trio of the seventies, today even Chauhan himself is hard put to answer to this query. And the reasons for the uncertainty are two questions that, for reasons best known to the BCCI, continue to remain some of Indian cricket's best kept secrets.

Question no. 1: Has Chauhan been cleared by the ICC?
No one has been able to answer this conclusively. Neither the cricketer in question, nor the chairman of the selection committee -- Chandu Borde. Neither has been informed about a decision either way by the board, although records reveal that the ICC letter clearing Chauhan had in fact reached the BCCI files more than a year ago.

Question no. 2: Is Chauhan unfit due to injury?
"No!" says the bowler unequivocally. "Yes! I had received a blow to my hand during the Ranji matches, but that was ages ago and the two-week rest advised by the doctors has long since passed."

The contention that he was not considered for the Central Zone team in the Deodhar Trophy because of injury, and he is unfit for the Championship Trophy, then refuses to hold weight.

Chandu Borde himself answers that Chauhan is not at all "too old", explaining that, "We took Robin Singh, didn't we? And he has performed excellently in Australia!"

Age, therefore, also fades away as a factor.

Where is the problem then?

The first blow to Chauhan had been struck when the BCCI, instead of fighting out the questioning of his action, like Sri Lanka had done with Muralitharan, decided to drop him even though he had never been no-balled in a match.

Today the off-spinner, who holds the record for never having lost a Test match and who has an enviable Economy Rate of 2.34 in Tests and 4.46 in one-day internationals, has reached a state where frustration is peaking.

After two years in the wilderness, few know that Chauhan had gone to Indore last week with the intention of announcing his retirement. He was, however, stopped from doing so by requests from teammates of the Central Zone, who feel that he still has a lot to contribute.

"I am frustrated," says Chauhan humbly. Not only because he has been out of both the National and Central Zone teams for the past two years despite completely changing his bowling action -- reducing his run-up and coming straight at the wicket -- but also because, there are no answers. "Please at least tell me where I stand!" he says.

Too many questions. Too few answers. And finally it is the country that suffers when we loose matches on turning tracks which crave the exploitative line and length of a Rajesh Chauhan.

Is it too late to finally break the silence?