In a departure from the norm, the BCCI on Saturday said the new national selection panel will have to officially “attend team meetings” as and when required.
The Board placed it as one of the key requirements while inviting applications for the post of national selectors. Only two slots will need to be filled in the senior panel after the departure of incumbent chairman MSK Prasad and his colleague Gagan Khoda.
Whether the selector will have a vote in choosing the playing XI is still not clear. The advertisement also makes it clear that the selection committee tenure will be four years, paving the way for Sarandeep Singh (North), Devang Gandhi (East) and Jatin Paranjpe (West) to continue for another 12 months.
It is clear that one of the new selectors (likely from the south zone) will head the panel as the three existing men do not have the stature to lead a senior selection committee.
The most notable requirements in the KRA (Key Responsibility Area) include selecting the best possible team in a fair and transparent manner’. Secondly, planning and preparing a strong bench strength for the national team and the third point pertains to “attending team meetings as and when required.”
Last but not the least is “travel to watch international and domestic matches.”
When asked, a senior BCCI official said: “Look, selectors have been on tours but as far as I know, there has been no formal clause that allowed them to sit in team meetings. Normally, the touring selector meets the coach and captain during practice to discuss tactics and strategy. But this is a new development. It’s a good thing if the touring selector is allowed to sit in team meetings.”
The senior selection committee will be in charge of picking the India, India A, Duleep, Deodhar, Challenger series and Rest of India squads for Irani Cup.
Along with the senior selection committee, the entire women’s selection panel will be overhauled while the junior men’s committee will feature two changes. The last date for submission is January 24.
It is still not clear whether the proposed Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Madan Lal, Gautam Gambhir, and Sulakshana Naik will be conducting interviews of the interested candidates.
The criteria to become a national selector rules out anyone who is above 60 years of age. Former India batsman Dilip Vengsarkar, whose name was floated by a section of the media, is 64 years old.
The BCCI brass led by Sourav Ganguly has adhered to specifications given in the new constitution where qualification for applying for senior selector’s post requires a candidate to play either seven Tests and 30 first-class games or 10 ODIs and 20 first-class matches. The person needs to be retired from all forms of cricket for at least five years.
For the junior selection committee, the requirement is 25 first-class games and one of the two selectors who would be relinquishing his post is Rakesh Parikh.
For the senior women’s team, even one international game for India is a good enough qualification.
