KOLKATA: Appointments and interviews for key posts in Indian cricket continue to raise eyebrows. The latest in the long list is the Cricket Advisory Committee’s move to name former India spinner Sunil Joshi as the chairman of the national men’s selection panel and former pacer Harvinder Singh as the fifth selector, keeping the zonal system intact.
As per BCCI’s new constitution, the zonal system has been scrapped to bring in more eligible candidates. And when BCCI advertised for the two vacant slots, it didn’t apply any restrictions on zonal criteria, leaving it open for anyone across the country to send in applications as long as they adhered to the “number of matches” rider. Even BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has reiterated time and again that the zonal system will not be implemented henceforth.
However, on Tuesday, as the final shortlist emerged, it was evident that BCCI had stuck to its zonal system. To replace chairman MSK Prasad (South Zone) and Gagan Khoda (Central Zone), CAC — Madan Lal, RP Singh and Sulakshana Naik — called Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Venkatesh Prasad, Joshi (South Zone) Rajesh Chaudhan and Harvinder (Central Zone) for the last round of interviews on Wednesday.
By evening, CAC recommended Joshi and Harvinder for the roles, with a tenure review after a year. Lal revealed that they wanted to stick to the zonal policy because it has worked for India in the past. “Our zonal system is very effective.
You need it as India is a huge country,” he said without further elaboration. This leaves to question why BCCI didn’t mention this rider in its advertisements. Among those who had applied and were considered to be in the fray for the chairman post was Ajit Agarkar. While the former India pacer’s name didn’t make it to the final list — despite being the most experienced (26 Tests, 191 ODIs & 4 T20Is) — the likes of Chetan Sharma and Nayan Mongia were also overlooked. “I didn’t receive any communication from BCCI regarding the zonal policy when I applied,” Mongia told this newspaper.
Agarkar will make it to the panel in September, when the tenures of Jatin Paranjpe, Sarandeep Singh and Devang Gandhi end. As per sources, BCCI has also decided that the most-experienced selector, not the senior-most one, will be made the chairman. Hence, Joshi might have to make way from the post if Agarkar is appointed. The latter has shown interest in the job from the very beginning, and sources said that a few of the names might automatically make it to the final list in September, provided they are still interested.
Sources also indicated that if Sivaramakrishnan was to be made chairman based on the constitution — Test caps gets precedence — BCCI would find it difficult to find suitable candidates due to that restriction.
CAC were impressed by Joshi’s communication skills. Until last year’s World Cup, the 49-year-old was Bangladesh’s spin-bowling consultant. He has also coached Hyderabad and Uttar Pradesh, apart from representing Karnataka in Ranji Trophy from 1992/93 to 2010/11. Joshi is the state’s highest wicket-taker.
Harvinder, 41, has played three Tests and 16 ODIs for India from 1997 to 2001. He turned out for Punjab and Railways.