Ajay Ratra, Amay Khurasiya and S Sharath are among the former players interviewed for a spot in India’s senior men’s selection panel, as per ESPNCricinfo. The BCCI-appointed Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) interviewed the aforementioned players, along with Chetan Sharma and Harvinder Singh. The shortlisted candidates made presentations before the panel, which will be submitting its recommendations to the board this week. The other candidate in the fray is former India opener SS Das, from East Zone.
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Sharath, former Tamil Nadu batter, has emerged as a strong contender to replace Sunil Joshi from South Zone as the latter chose against re-applying. If Sharath gets the job, he will be elevated as he is currently the chairman of the junior men’s team panel. It was his committee that picked up India’s under-19 World Cup winning squad last year.
It is likely that Das replaces his former teammate Debasis Mohanty from the East Zone, with whom he played for India and Odisha. Das represented India in 23 Tests and four ODIs between 2000 and 2002 and also played 180 first-class cricket matches.
The need for a new selector from East Zone would have arisen irrespective of BCCI inviting applications for a new selection panel as Mohanty had fulfilled his maximum-stipulated cumulative five-year term across various cricket committees. He was a part of both junior and senior panels.
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In a similar way, the board would have had to appoint a new selector from West Zone as the Chetan Sharma-led selection Panel was reduced to four members after Abey Kuruvilla, the former Indian pacer, completed a maximum tenure of five years. Kuruvilla moved on to become the BCCI General Manager (cricket development) and the board did not name his replacement either.
On Monday though, it emerged that Chetan Sharma could continue as chairman after all as he was part of BCCI’s review meeting that discussed India’s ICC T20 World Cup 2022 performance and roadmap for the 50-over World Cup coming later this year. India head coach Rahul Dravid, captain Rohit Sharma, NCA chief VVS Laxman and the board’s top brass were present at the meeting.
The incumbent panel has not been asked to report to various venues during the fourth round of the Ranji Trophy. It was given an extension till 2022-end to pick up squads for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka and track third-round Ranji matches from December 27-30.
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The CAC which is conducting the interviews for the selection panel consists of former players Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjape and Sulakshana Naik.
