Selectors redundant for overseas tours?

According to the BCCI constitution submitted to the Tamil Nadu Registrar of Societies, the coach, captain and vice-captain will choose players for the Indian team during overseas cricket tours. The clause should be “interpreted constructively,” according to Board’s acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary.

BCCI chief selector M. S. K. Prasad (left) and acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary at a press conference in Mumbai on Saturday.

In the new constitution that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) submitted to the Registrar of Societies of Tamil Nadu last week, the role of national selectors during overseas tours is ambiguous.

In Point 26 (iv) of the constitution, it says that “on an overseas tour, the cricket manager/coach, captain and the vice-captain shall constitute the selection committee. The administrative manager shall convene the meeting and keep a record of the proceedings.”

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That essentially leaves the national selection panel without any work on overseas tours as the onus would be on the coach, captain and vice-captain to choose the players and pick the side.

But on Saturday, while naming the India squad for the Asia Cup, the Board’s acting secretary, Amitabh Chaudhary said that the clause should be “interpreted constructively.”

'Depends on interpretation'

Asked whether the selectors would still travel abroad, given the fact that they won’t have a role in the overseas tour selection panel, Chaudhary said: “It depends on interpretation. It needs to be interpreted constructively and if it is felt collectively in the BCCI that the visits of these selectors to witness matches at international venues abroad does actually help or aid the process of selection, then it might be [considered].”