BCCI Selection Committee Sacked: BCCI on Friday sacked the Chetan Sharma-led senior national selection committee with immediate effect. The Board has also invited fresh applications for the positions of all five national selectors. However, it is learnt that all the four selection committee members – Debashish Mohanty(East Zone), Harvinder Singh(Central Zone), Sunil Joshi(South Zone) and Sharma (North Zone) are yet to receive an official communication from the BCCI on the development. It is reported that all the selectors were watching the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy matches across the country when the board decided to sack the entire selection panel. Follow INDIAN Cricket LIVE Updates with InsideSport.IN
There might have been a lack of communication from the BCCI end to its former selection panel, but the timing was indeed correct.
Given the national team’s failure at the ICC events of late, it was evident that someone had to face the axe. This time around, it was the turn of the national selectors to face the music.
No way out for the selectors
The writing was on the wall for the Chetan Sharma-led committee. A BCCI official told InsideSport that some of the decisions taken by the national selectors were questionable.
BCCI’s move comes after Team India’s 10-wicket loss to England in the T20 World Cup semi-final earlier this month.
“There had to be a change and have to admit there were a few wrong decisions in selection. We needed a fresh start,” the board official said.
The official also added that the tenures of some of the selectors were drawing to a close and that a fresh start with a new approach and a new mindset was indeed the need of the hour.
“We did not get the results we wanted and after Jay and Ashish came back from Melbourne, we decided, it would be best to have a completely new panel,” a BCCI official told InsideSport
A senior BCCI official explained to InsideSport reasons behind sacking entire selection committee🚨
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Following India’s humiliating 10-wicket loss to England, fans and cricket experts questioned a few debatable choices for the ICC event in Australia.
The axe was always hanging over their heads, and on Friday, the BCCI made it official.
Perform or Perish: BCCI’s new formula?
One just fails to recall the last time the entire national selection committee was sacked by the board due to the team’s poor performance on the pitch.
Probably, one has to date back to the pre-MS Dhoni captaincy era, when the selectors failed to complete their full four-year term. Their sacking brings to an end to one of the shortest tenures in BCCI’s selection committee history.
Barring Mohanty, who is on the verge of finishing his tenure, the remaining three selectors could only serve two of their four-year official terms. Abey Kuruvilla completed his maximum tenure of five years in late 2021, and the Board didn’t appoint his replacement on the selection panel.
Although the BCCI invited fresh applications for the position of national selectors, there was no mention of the panel being dropped. It is understood that the board took cognizance of the national team’s poor performance between the two T20 World Cups played in the span of a year.
While India failed to qualify for the knockout stages in the 2021 edition played in the UAE under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, the Blues lost the semi-final to England by 10 wickets under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in Australia.
However, some poor tactical decisions were taken by skipper Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid, and cricket fans just couldn’t overlook the bizarre selections made by the panel at the time of team selection.
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- Inclusion of two finger spinners, Axar Patel and Ravi Ashwin, in Australian conditions
- Medium pacer Harshal Patel is preferred over a genuine fast bowler.
- Lack of part-time bowling options
A Tumultuous ride for Chetan Sharma & Co.
Chetan Sharma was drafted in as the chairman of the national selectors in December 2020. However, his tenure has been marred with controversies. The biggest of them all unfolded last year when Virat Kohli decided to give up the national T20 captaincy but expressed his desire to carry on in ODIs and Tests.
This resulted in an unhealthy turn of events between the national selectors and Virat Kohli. The latter was then stripped of the ODI captaincy, and by the start of 2022, he decided to give up the Test captaincy too.
The national team’s performance also took a beating. Although the team did well in bilateral series, the wait to win the ICC title got stretched for at least until 2023.
The Chetan Sharma-led selection panel is now history. It now remains to be seen whether the BCCI will take similar stringent actions against underperforming players in the coming days or not.
BCCI Selection Committee SACKED: BCCI fires Chetan Sharma-led SENIOR selection panel, invites fresh applications for position of national selectors
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