Outgoing selectors likely to stay until Oz tour

Gandhi, Paranjape and Singh will complete their four-year-term (three plus one) on September 30, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is unlikely to interview the aspiring candidates anytime soon and will instead persist with the existing committee.

The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising head Madan Lal, Rudra Pratap Singh and Sulakshana Naik, hasn’t yet received any intimation from the Board regarding the conduct of interviews for the three soon-to-be vacant posts.

“Yes, CAC hasn’t been sent any intimation as of now. Obviously, the coronavirus-enforced lockdown has put all plans in disarray and now, the focus is on the Indian Premier League (IPL). Also, there is no domestic cricket being held at the moment,” said a senior BCCI official on conditions of anonymity.

There is a school of thought within BCCI that at this point in time, with the IPL starting, it is better that the three outgoing panel members remain at least till the India squad for the Australia tour is announced. The team will be announced between the second and third week of October.

“If you look, MSK Prasad and Gagan Khoda were replaced in March 2020 and not in September 2019. There is absolutely no harm if Devang, Jatin and Sarandeep help out Sunil Joshi and Harvinder Singh for the Australia series and may be the England series. They have covered domestic cricket extensively and have a fair idea about bench strength,” added the source.

The Supreme Court hearing on the BCCI petition for cooling-off period waiver for president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah is another factor. The announcement of new selectors conventionally happens during the AGM as the selection panel is a sub-committee of BCCI.

Keeping the health and safety concerns as well as security in mind, BCCI is likely to send an extended playing squad to Australia whose strength will be anything between 23 and 25. “It is only logical that 23 to 25 players are carried. There is no need to call net bowlers from outside and if the players from India A squad also go, it would help us in having a proper four-day first-class match simulation in the bio-bubble,” said a BCCI official.