Mumbai: The five-member BCCI selection committee headed by Sandeep Patil ended their tenure after selecting the final Indian cricket team squad for New Zealand Test series here on Monday. The 60-year-old former India player felt that he ended his tenure on a happy note.
“We have taken some bold and tough decisions looking at the future of Indian cricket. We are very happy at the end of our term that the team is doing well in all three formats and I wish the next committee all the best. The only sad thing about being a selector is that you end up losing some of your friends,” said Patil who was appointed the chairman of selectors in September 2012.
Saba Karim, Vikram Rathour, Gagan Khoda and MSK Prasad complete the outgoing selection panel. Patil who had tried his luck by applying for the post of Indian coach earlier, may indeed be happy to step aside given the difficult times BCCI has been in following Supreme Court appointed Lodha Committee recommendations whose full implementation is still awaited. It also has recommended limiting the senior team selection committee to three former players.
“Also, a big thank you to the BCCI for providing the opportunity. The Board has taken some great decisions during my time. We are happy with the roadmap the BCCI has drawn with Rahul Dravid taking over as coach of the juniors and Anil Kumble the seniors,” Patil said.
“We have bigger pool of players. On the tour of West Indies we forwarded other names to BCCI. We had detailed chat with captain (Virat), coach also with MS (Dhoni) how to go forward. We have good bench strength,” he added.
The former Mumbai dasher chose to parry any questions on the controversies during his tenure in which selectors are often caught. Patil evaded the question on whether Sachin Tendulkar was told in advance to call it a day before the hurriedly arranged two-Test series against the West Indies in 2013.
“There are some matters between the selectors and BCCI which should remain confidential and cannot be revealed,” said Patil. He also claimed no outside interference in selection matters during his tenure. “In our four-year term not a single BCCI official of any zone approached the selection committee for any recommendation,” he pointed out.
With Patil on his way out, it means the new selection committee’s first job will be to announce the Indian ODI squad against New Zealand. “We want to give everyone a chance to apply for selector’s post rather than choose someone on our own and that’s why we have called for applications (for interview),” BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke said.
