Former India spinner Ramesh Powar is the frontrunner to join the BCCI’s senior men’s selection committee, according to a report by Cricbuzz on Saturday. Powar, who has served two stints as head coach of the India women’s cricket team, has applied for the role and is now the favourite to join the panel, which is likely to be headed by former India spinner Pragyan Ojha.
Following the conclusion of Ajit Agarkar’s tenure as chief selector on October 4, the BCCI invited applications to fill a vacancy on its senior men’s selection committee. On October 15, the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) interviewed four or five candidates, including former India opener Wasim Jaffer and former Baroda players Connor Williams and Jacob Martin.
Reports suggest that
the CAC has decided to go ahead with Powar, who played two Tests and 31 ODIs for India in the mid-2000s.
Powar was earlier considered the frontrunner to become the new chief of the BCCI’s junior selection committee and had also interviewed for the position. However, he is now expected to join the senior selection panel.
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel was considered the favourite to replace Agarkar on the selection committee last month but he did not apply for the role.
Meanwhile, the BCCI is reportedly planning to include a representative from its Centre of Excellence (CoE) in selection committee meetings going forward. The representative is likely to be CoE head VVS Laxman, who attended the selectors’ online meeting on Friday, when the squads for India’s ODI and Test series in New Zealand were finalised.
Laxman is expected to be part of selection meetings in the future as well, helping selectors gain a better understanding of players’ injury status and availability.
Dodda Ganesh to lead junior selection committee
The CAC also interviewed candidates for positions on the junior selection committee on Tuesday (October 13). According to Cricbuzz, former India pacer Dodda Ganesh, who hails from Karnataka, could become the new chief selector. It is also learnt that Arun Sharma of Jammu and Kashmir could represent the North Zone, while former Gujarat player L Pawar may be the West Zone selector and Rajesh Bora of Assam could represent the East Zone. Meanwhile Pankaj Singh is likely to be the representative from the Central Zone.
