Chetan Sharma has been formally reappointed as the chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) men’s senior selection commmittee. He will be joined by four new colleagues, after the BCCI announced a reconstituted selection panel.
While Sharma (North Zone) is the only survivor from the previous panel, his new colleagues include Shiv Sundar Das (Central Zone), Subroto Banerjee (East Zone), Salil Ankola (West Zone) and S. Sharath (South Zone).
According to a statement issued by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), headed by former India cricketer Ashok Malhotra, “upon due deliberation and careful consideration”, shortlisted 11 individuals for personal interviews from the 600 candidates who had applied for the role.
Sharma, being the “seniormost Test cap” as prescribed in BCCI’s rulebook, has continued to be the chief selector for the third year in succession.
Sportstar understands that with an eye on maintaining an element of continuity, the CAC preferred to retain Sharma at the helm. Following the CAC’s submission of its recommendations after conducting the interviews on January 2, all the five men were called for a meeting with Shah on Saturday at the BCCI headquarters here.
Sharma, the pacer with 23 Test and 65 ODI caps, has been the chief selector since he was inducted into the panel in December 2020. With him at the helm, India has had disappointing campaigns in consecutive T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022.
Das, the former India opener who featured in 23 Tests and four ODIs, has been an interesting choice from the Central Zone. Despite playing a majority of his 20 seasons in domestic cricket from his home team Orissa in East Zone, Das was considered from the Central Zone, having represented Vidarbha in 2011-12 and 2012-13.
Since retiring from cricket, he has coached Odisha, India A and India Women. He was the Punjab batting coach before his appointment as selector.
Ankola (one Test and 20 ODIs) and Banerjee (one Test and six ODIs), the former speedsters who played a solitary Test each, were expected entrants into the selection panel. While Ankola has been Mumbai’s chief selector since 2020-21, Banerjee - besides his various coaching assignments - has been Arjun Tendulkar’s bowling coach.
Sharath, the domestic stalwart from Tamil Nadu with 139 First-Class appearances, is the only uncapped member of the committee. The stylish left-handed batter has been promoted from his role as the chief of the junior men’s selection committee. Having also served as match referee and Tamil Nadu chief selector, Sharath will be expected to play a key role in the reconstituted selection panel.
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