The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has started the process to name the two new selectors. The board has shortlisted four candidates for the job. As per a report in The New Indian Express, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Ajit Agarkar, Venkatesh Prasad and Rajesh Chauhan have been shortlisted for the two vacant positions.
The newly-formed Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) will soon conduct the interviews and two former players will join the selection panel before the squad announcement for South Africa ODIs.
Interestingly, BCCI couldn’t acknowledge Sivaramakrishnan’s application as his email was found in the spam folder. The board only came to know about it after multiple reports suggested that the former spinner wasn’t shortlisted. He was tipped to be the next chief selector couple of months. However, irrespective of the fact whether he makes the final cut or not, Sivaramakrishnan will not be the chairman of the panel as other three shortlisted candidates played more Tests than him.
Agarkar is the frontrunner to lead the panel but he might miss out if the board goes for a selector from another zone – he comes from West Zone. The former India all-rounder served as Mumbai’s chief selector for a couple of years.
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Venkatesh is another senior candidate who has thrown his hat into the ring. He has donned multiple hats and was also the chairman of the-19 team that won the World Cup in 2018. He later resigned from the job to coach Kings XI Punjab.
Rajesh Chauhan, the player with 21 Test caps, he has a tough road ahead but he has more experience than Sivaramakrishnan.
The Madan Lal-led CAC is likely to conduct interview for the job later this month. RP Singh and Sulakshana Naik are two other members of the panel. CAC will also name a new selection committee for the women’s team. There is no update on the candidates shortlisted for that job.