ESPNcricinfo has confirmed that SS Das, Ajay Ratra, Amay Khurasiya, and S Sharath are among the ex-players who have been interviewed for a position on India’s upcoming senior men’s selection committee. They were interrogated on Tuesday by the BCCI-appointed Cricket Advisory Committee, along with two members of the current panel, Chetan Sharma and Harvinder Singh (CAC).
It is believed that all of the selected candidates gave presentations to the panel, which will this week report its conclusions to the board. Ratra, a former India wicketkeeper, and Das, a former India opener, virtually participated in the interviews because they are serving as coaches for Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in the current Ranji Trophy.
Former Tamil Nadu batter Sharath has emerged as a front-runner to succeed Sunil Joshi in the South Zone after Joshi decided not to reapply. If Sharath is hired, he will advance from his existing position as the junior men’s panel chairman. The Indian team that won the Under-19 World Cup in February of last year was chosen by Sharath’s committee.
It’s anticipated that Das will replace Debasis Mohanty, a former teammate from Odisha and India. Between 2002 and 2002, Das participated in 180 first-class matches, including 23 Tests, 4 ODIs, and four.
Given that Mohanty has served on various cricket committees for the maximum-permitted cumulative five-year term and has served on both junior and senior panels, the need for a new selector from the East Zone would have arisen even if the BCCI hadn’t invited applications for a new panel following India’s T20 World Cup campaign.
In a similar vein, the board would have been forced to name a new selector from the West Zone anyway, as the Chetan Sharma-led panel was reduced to four members in late 2021 after Abey Kuruvilla, the former Mumbai and India fast bowler, had served the maximum five-year term.
The board did not nominate a successor on the selection panel as Kuruvilla transitioned to the position of BCCI general manager (cricket development). Chetan Sharma attended the BCCI review meeting on Monday along with head coach Rahul Dravid, captain Rohit Sharma, NCA president VVS Laxman, and the board’s top brass to discuss the path leading to the home 50-over World Cup scheduled for later this year.
This may have been the biggest hint yet that there may not be a new chairman after all. The current panel hasn’t been asked to report to any specific locations, though, for the matches in the fourth round of the Ranji Trophy, which began today.
With the exception of being requested to follow the third round of Ranji Trophy matches from December 27–30, it had initially been given a deadline extension until the end of the year to choose the teams for the T20Is and ODIs against Sri Lanka.