Chetan Sharma will head India’s cricketers’ Selection panel
BCCI has appointed CHETAN Sharma,ex-cricketer, as chairman of the Selection Committee for the Indian cricket. Born in Punjab’s Ludhiana, he played Tests and ODIs as a fast bowler for Indian cricket team. Now , 54, Chetan Sharm had made his first-class debut for Haryana at the age of 16 and appeared in One Day Internationals a year later. As per the BCCI constitution, the candidate with the most Test caps becomes the chief selector. Sharma represented India in 23 Tests and 65 ODIs during an 11-year-old international career, the highlight of which was his hat-trick in the 1987 World Cup. Making his first appearance in Tests against Pakistan at Lahore in 1984, he bowled Mohsin Khan with his fifth ball becoming the third Indian to take a wicket in his first over in Test cricket. He took fourteen wickets in the three Tests in Sri Lanka in 1985. Later that season in Australia, with India needing a win in the last match of the league to qualify for the final of the World Series Cup. Madan Lal-led Cricket Advisory committee had named Chetan Sharma, Abey Kuruvilla and Debashish Mohanty as the new members of senior selection committee .The names were declared in a statement released by Jay Shah, BCCI Secretary, after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) held its 89th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Ahmedabad on Thursday, December 24. The committee had recommended Chetan Sharma for appointment as Chairman of the senior men’s selection committee based on seniority of total number of Test matches played by the cricketer . The CAC will review the candidates after a one-year period and make the recommendations to the BCCI. The shortlisted candidates were virtually interviewed by BCCI’s CAC comprising Madan Lal, Rudra Pratap Singh and Sulakshana Naik. Kuruvilla was backed by Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) bigwigs, was preferred over a more decorated Ajit Agarkar from the west zone. Mohanty, a former India seamer from Odisha, was serving as junior national selector for the last two years and will remain in the committee for another couple of years only. The selection panel also comprises former India players Sunil Joshi (south zone) and Harvinder Singh (central zone). edited by Pranab Kumar Chakravarty
