Chetan Sharma named chairman of selectors, Abey Kuruvilla and Debasis Mohanty join the panel

Chetan Sharma named chairman of selectors, Abey Kuruvilla and Debasis Mohanty join the panel

Chetan Sharma

Chetan Sharma
Chetan Sharma

The 89th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the BCCI saw the governing body take some big decisions. The biggest of all is the appointment of former India pacer Chetan Sharma as chairman of the All-India Senior Selection Committee. Sharma was recommended to the position by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising Madan Lal, Rudra Pratap Singh and Sulakshana Naik. The CAC also recommended the inclusion of Abey Kuruvilla and Debasis Mohanty in the senior selection panel, which green-lighted in the meeting.

The three members will be joining Sunil Joshi and Harvinder Singh in the selection committee. Sarandeep Singh, Jatin Paranjape and Devang Gandhi‘s tenure ended in September making way for the new appointments. Sharma is a former player who represented India in 23 Tests and 65 ODIs during an 11-year-old international career. As per the BCCI constitution, the candidate with the most Test caps becomes the chief selector. And hence, Sharma will be replacing Joshi as the chairman of the committee.

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Kuruvilla will be representing the west zone in the committee while Mohanty will representing the east zone. Kuruvilla represented India in 10 Tests and 25 ODIs scalping 50 wickets in India colours. While Mohanty, who is also a fast bowler, played 2 Tests and 45 ODIs. The Odisha quick bagged 61 wickets in his short international career.

Another big decision in the AGM was that of including two new franchises in IPL 2021. Reports earlier suggested that the governing body might include the new franchise for the 2021 season. But seeing the lack of time for a mega auction, BCCI has decided to push the move for a season. Thus, the 2021 edition will be similar to the 2020 edition of the IPL with 8 teams and similar squads. The huge makeover with a mega-auction will take place in 2022.

Former IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla was elected as the vice-president of the BCCI during the 89th AGM. Mahim Verma previously held the post only to resign earlier this year.

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