Ajay Ratra, Amay Khurasiya and S Sharath are among the former players interviewed for a spot in India’s senior selection panel, according to ESPNCricinfo. The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) appointed by the BCCI interviewed the above players along with Chetan Sharma and Harvinder Singh. The shortlisted candidates have made presentations to the panel, which will present its recommendations to the board this week. The other contender in contention is former India opener SS Das, from East Zone.
Former Tamil Nadu batsman Sharath has emerged as a strong contender to replace South Zone’s Sunil Joshi as the latter chose not to reapply. 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 commission that picked up India’s under-19 World Cup winning side last year.
Das is expected to replace his former East Zone teammate Debasis Mohanty, 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 regardless of whether BCCI invited applications for a new selection panel, as Mohanty had served his maximum stipulated five-year cumulative term on various cricket commissions. He served on both junior and senior panels.
In a similar fashion, 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 tenure of up to five years. Kuruvilla became the BCCI General Manager (cricket development) and the board did not name his replacement either.
However, it emerged on Monday that Chetan Sharma could still continue as chairman as he was part of the BCCI review meeting that discussed India’s ICC T20 World Cup 2022 performance and the roadmap for the 50-over World Cup coming later this year. India head coach Rahul Dravid, captain Rohit Sharma, NCA chief VVS Laxman and top board members attended the meeting.
The sitting panel has not been asked to report at various locations during the fourth round of the Ranji Trophy. It was given an extension until the end of 2022 to pick up teams for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka and to keep track of third round Ranji matches from December 27-30.
The CAC that does the interviews for the selection committee consists of former players Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjape and Sulakshana Naik.
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