BCCI’s 'be present in person' clause result of Shastri fiasco

Clause 11 of selection criteria put up by the BCCI states "candidates should be willing to appear for personal interview".

Published : Sep 12, 2016 21:29 IST

Ravi Shastri appeared for the interview for the head coach's position via video conference.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) ‘be present in person for interview’ clause for picking selectors has been added to avoid a Ravi Shastri-like fiasco in the future.

Clause 11 of selection criteria put up by the Indian Cricket Board states “candidates should be willing to appear for personal interview”.

Shastri had appeared for his personal interview via video conferencing.

A BCCI source told PTI that they had kept the clause to avoid a similar situation.

“What happened post chief coach’s interview (Shastri-Sourav Ganguly spat) could have been avoided but we would ensure that nothing like that happens this time. If someone is interested, he should appear for an interview irrespective of his stature,” said the source.

While the Mumbaikar lost the chief coach’s job to former captain Anil Kumble, it started a war of words between Shastri and Ganguly, who was one of the interview panel members.

“I expected Sourav to be present during my interview but he was not there,” Shastri had said then.

Ganguly retorted, saying: “If Ravi Shastri was so serious about the job, he should have been here (in Kolkata) appearing for the job and not give an interview while holidaying in Bangkok.”

It is expected that the BCCI will get a sizeable number of CVs now that selectors will be picked through open interview process.

Meanwhile, the company that produces SG Test balls for first-class and Tests in India, has handed over the first set of pink ball consignment to the BCCI.

It will now be sent to the NCA for testing and the feedbac.

It is still not clear though whether SG will be in a position to supply pink balls for the upcoming Ranji Trophy games.

The outgoing senior selection committee has suggested that at least one match per round of Ranji Trophy will have the pink ball.