The BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur today said that the national selection committee is keeping a close tab on the young Indian talent as they have visited multiple venues to get an idea about the performers during the just-concluded Indian Premier League cricket tournament.
"Many selectors have been visiting many venues. They are aware of the young players' performances. The BCCI is also keeping an eye. It's a platform that gives ample opportunities to a young player," Thakur told a select group of mediapersons during an interaction here today.
The BCCI secretary's own observation on IPL is that "a young crickter learns much more in two months of league than they would learn in 5-10 years".
"It's an opportunity for players to share the dressing room with the legendary players. In these two months, what they learn is much more compared to what they get to learn in 5-10 years," Thakur stated.
He then cited the example of Mandeep Singh batting in company of a star like AB de Villiers.
"Mandeep and AB were batting you can evaluate your player. Mandeep was looking more aggressive and better while facing the same bowlers in similar conditions. You can make similar comparisons, so it's easier for selectors to pick players from the IPL," the BCCI secretary said.
He also open to the idea of Test match specialists like Cheteshwar Pujara honing their skills in county cricket if they are not playing IPL for any franchise.
"In a way to look out the possiblities, we've players like Cheteshwar Pujara, who does not play for any franchise. There will be a few players like him, who can be an asset to the Test team. They should go and play county where they can get good exposure. They should not miss out on cricket. Next year we're going to play 12 Tests."
Pujara played for Yorkshire in English County's Division-I this year.
Thakur also initimated the media that BCCI has chalked out a calender in such a manner so that the accent is more T20 Internationals keeping in mind the World T20, scheduled to be held in country next year.
"We have World T20 for men's and women's here so we have designed our calendar such a way that limited overs cricket would be ahead of the first class cricket. We've learnt from the previous shortcomings. We;re organising Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 much ahead," added Thakur.
