Chetan Sharma resigned as the chairman of the national selection committee on Friday following a sting operation by a television channel in which he made shocking revelations.
Sportstar has learnt that Sharma, who was in Kolkata for the Ranji Trophy final until Thursday, had sent his resignation to the BCCI secretary Jay Shah, also the convenor of the national selection panel, which was later accepted.
Sharma did not turn up at Eden Gardens on Friday.
Ankola or Das? Who takes over now?
The BCCI constitution suggests that the senior most member, who played for India first, will be appointed chairman. After Sharma’s exit, the BCCI could prefer Salil Ankola, who made his Test debut in 1989 or even pick Shiv Sundar Das, who has played more Tests than the remaining selectors.
The Board is expected to make an official announcement about Sharma’s exit in due course. Even though the BCCI officials were initially divided over the possible action on Sharma, who many felt was a victim of a sting operation, they later concurred that it wouldn’t be right for him to continue.
Trust issues
In that sting operation, Sharma commented on Indian players enhancing fitness by taking injections. He also spoke about the ‘ego’ clashes between Virat Kohli and the former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.
It is learnt that the team management was unhappy with Sharma’s revelations as many felt that it would be difficult for the players to regain trust.
Sharma, the pacer with 23 Test and 65 ODI caps, had 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. While the other members of the previous panel had to leave their posts after the T20 World Cup semifinal exit in Australia, Sharma managed to hold on to the position for another term after the Ashok Malhotra-led Cricket Advisory Committee chose him as the selector after conducting interviews.
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