Here's the sad, sad story of three young cricketers, all from the nation's capital…..
One bright day (perhaps, it was dull, but who cares?), the wise men aka the Indian selectors gathered together around their round table to choose the Indian team for the India A series against Australia A at Disneyland.
That's pretty apt because what they were up to would have made a great cartoon strip, and perhaps even a great ride, something like the Great Selection Muddle in which the participants are chucked in and out, out and in, and vice-versa without any real logic being applied to the process.

So, there they were, selecting the best and brightest of the second string. Since they knew that the wicket would support fast bowling, they obviously decided to select just two opening bowlers - Karnataka speedster Dodda Ganesh and Delhi quickie Amit Bhandari.
Just about then they realised that the Indian team was to tour Toronto and had just three opening bowlers in its ranks since Javagal Srinath was rested and Ajit Agarkar, as usual, had pulled or strained something somewhere in his body.
So they decided to dispatch Amit Bhandari post haste to Toronto. That left the India A coach Krishnamachari Srikkanth slightly bemused. After all, he was left with just a single opening bowler for what were expected to be seaming tracks. But fine, the selectors decided to find a replacement for the India A squad.
And they did. They found Mithun Manhas. Manhas is a promising Delhi player. Unfortunately, however, he happens to be a specialist batsman and due to poor form could not make it to the Delhi team regularly during the domestic season. But then, the Chairman of the Board of Selectors Ajit Wadekar wasn't expected to worry about such fine points now, was he? His job is just to make up the numbers, isn't it?
So, Manhas was in and he checked in to the team hotel. One interesting aspect of the selection of the India A team was that another Delhi left-arm bowler Ashish Nehra, who played a solitary Test against Sri Lanka this year (with some success) had not even been considered for the India A team. Of course, the choice was made and announced without consulting the North Zone selector Madan Lal, who may have offered some insight.

Meanwhile, someone in the Board discovered that the team lacked fast bowlers. So suddenly, Manhas became the first Indian player to be dropped from a team before a tour commenced. instead, wonder of wonders, Nehra was called in.
And, guess what happened to Bhandari? Bhandari, who was rushed to Toronto, didn't get to play a single game against the West Indies. And when the time came for selecting the team to tour Nairobi, he found himself excluded. In the end, he didn't get to play in the US or in Toronto, depriving a talented bowler of an opportunity to be tested by international opposition.
Manhas, meanwhile, has reason to be upset. But then does that bother the selectors? You bet it doesn't. Wadekar just sulked and blamed the selection on the media. Perhaps, if the selection was actually left to the Press, we wouldn't have such idiocy subverting out cricketing system.