On Thursday, the Madan Lal-led Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) will basically interview candidates to fill three vacancies in the Senior Selection Committee. Former fast bowler Ajit Agarkar is the pioneer in bagging the West Zone selector’s berth, and he may be the next chairman of the panel as the most capped test cricketer (26 Tests and 191 ODIs).
The applicant with the most test caps becomes the chief selector, as per the current BCCI constitution. Sunil Joshi, who has played 15 Tests, is currently the chairman. The other Central Zone selector is Harvinder Singh. In addition to Agarkar, from the West, Abey Kuruvilla and Nayan Mongia applied. Maninder Singh, Vijay Dahiya, Ajay Ratra and Nikhil Chopra, and Shiv Sunder Das, Debashish Mohanty and Ranadeb Bose are reported to have applied from the North Zone of Chetan Sharma.
The BCCI has agreed to maintain the zonal criteria for the selection panel composition. They have completed their terms with Jatin Paranjpe (West Zone), Devang Gandhi (East) and Sarandeep Singh (North). Once selected, the committee’s next task will be to select India’s team for the home series against England.
If members air discomfiture over brand endorsements by President Sourav Ganguly, some of which are in direct competition with the board, Thursday’s BCCI AGM may be stormy. The issue before Ganguly may not be legal, but ethical, with BCCI’s sponsors raising no objections.
On Wednesday, former Indian captain Ganguly was on familiar turf, leading a team of board officials in a friendly cricket game at the newly renovated Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. The members of the Board were not prepared to agree on whether concerns about Ganguly would be posed at the meeting. “If anyone in the meeting raises the issue, Ganguly has a line of defense ready,” an official of the state unit close to the president said.
