The Indian cricket board (BCCI) has reappointed Chetan Sharma as the chairman of selectors for the senior national team while letting go of the services of the rest of the earlier panel.
Only Chetan Sharma and Harvinder Singh from the previous committee submitted a new application for the position after the BCCI issued an advertisement for all five positions in response to India's unsuccessful T20 World Cup campaign.
Sharma’s committee will now have former India opener Shiv Sundar Das, former India pacers Subroto Banerjee and Salil Ankola and former Tamil Nadu batting stalwart Sridharan Sharath.
As Das completed his first-class career at Vidarbha, he was chosen as a contender from the central zone. Chetan was chosen as chairman despite having played the same amount of Tests as Sharma since he made his debut before Das and has previous experience in the position for two years.
“The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Sulakshana Naik, Ashok Malhotra, and Jatin Paranjape undertook an extensive process for selecting members. The board received around 600 applications. Upon due deliberation and careful consideration, the CAC shortlisted 11 individuals for personal interviews,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.
Sharma has been retained to preserve consistency while the board attempts to make a significant transformation, particularly in the T20I format. Along with ODI and Test skipper Rohit Sharma, head coach Rahul Dravid, and NCA chief VVS Laxman, Sharma attended the recent review meeting. Sharath is the first selector since Rajinder Hans, who served until 2016, to be the sole member of the panel who has never played cricket internationally.