New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) All-rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who single-handedly took Bengal to their first Vijay Hazare Trophy, Monday slammed East Zone selector Raja Venkat for dropping him from the East Zone squad for the Deodhar Trophy on “disciplinary grounds”.
Shukla scored an unbeaten 106 and picked up four wickets in Bengal’s six-wicket win over Mumbai in the final at the Ferozshah Kotla here.
“I won’t like to say much on the issue. There is always motivation to do well. If there is someone who doesn’t come to watch players on the field, if they won’t follow the game, then they would not come to know whether a player is injured or not. An injured player should not play and I guess they were not aware of that,” said Shukla.
While national selectors Mohinder Amarnath, Narendra Hirwani, Surendra Bhave and chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth were present both at the Palam and Kotla here during the knock out stage, Venkat, who heads the east zone selection committee, was conspicuous by his absence.
Venkat, however, had claimed that Shukla was dropped from the East Zone squad on disciplinary grounds as he had opted out of the squad at the last minute on the last two occasions.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who led Bengal in Vijay Hazare, was also surprised at Shukla’s omission.
“I didn’t know about it until now but he should have been in the team. I hope there is a way where they can bring him back. He has been playing really well off late.”