Patil appointed Chairman

Sandeep Patil, former India allrounder and current Operations Director at the National Cricket Academy, has been appointed chairman of the senior selection committee for a maximum term of four years to be renewed each year by the BCCI.

He is part of a new five-member panel appointed by the Board, others being Roger Binny, Saba Karim, Vikram Rathour and Rajinder Singh Hans. Indian cricket will thus have a new set of selectors.

The earlier panel headed by K. Srikkanth had completed its tenure, except North Zone selector Mohinder Amarnath, who had completed one year and was due for re-appointment.

BCCI president N. Srinivasan explained the reasoning behind Patil as the new chairman and change in the entire senior selection panel. “We wanted a person of sufficient stature as chairman. No one can question Sandeep Patil’s credentials.”

Amarnath’s exclusion

Asked about the line of thought in excluding a player of Amarnath’s stature, despite having three years left in his term, Srinivasan said: “The issue is not about the credentials of a person, just that BCCI wants a new face. The five selectors are chosen for a maximum four-year term and elected annually. I cannot go into the reason (behind Mohinder Amarnath’s exclusion) and don’t want it to go into a public debate. Appointing selectors is a decision of the BCCI.”

Patil’s appointment as the selector from West Zone and senior chairman is one of the many decisions taken at the AGM of the Board conducted at the Cricket Centre.

Binny (South Zone), Karim (East Zone), Rathour (North Zone) and Hans (Central Zone) comprise the new panel. The selectors’ remuneration has been hiked from Rs. 40 lakh to Rs. 60 lakh in case of senior panel and Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 40 lakh for the junior selectors.

Pandit replaces Kuruvilla

Former India wicketkeeper Chandrakant Pandit is the junior selectors’ chairman, replacing Abey Kuruvilla under whom India won the under-19 World Cup recently in Australia.

Anil Kumble, former India captain and now making a mark in cricket administration, will be the new BCCI Technical Committee chairman. Gargi Banerjee retains her post as women’s selection committee head.

The BCCI president, replying to a question about zonal basis in appointing selectors for the India seniors, juniors and women’s squad, instead of picking the best from those available regardless of zones they represent, said: “India is a large country and skills of players in all regions have to be addressed. BCCI has picked good selectors. The increase in remuneration is to make selectors more responsible and give more time. There is more interest in players becoming selectors.”

New technical chief

Former India captain and ace leg-spinner Anil Kumble is the new chairman of BCCI’s Technical Committee, Board president N. Srinivasan said after the 83rd AGM ended here on Thursday.

Orissa’s ex-Ranji player and former East Zone selector, Ranjib Biswal, is the National Cricket Academy chairman.

The BCCI president also said the Board had adopted an anti-corruption code, details of which would be circulated to all associations.

Gross income has been valued at Rs. 849 crore (as against Rs. 581 crore the previous year), surplus is over Rs. 382 crore (Rs. 190 crore previous year). During the year, Rs.160 crore were spent on infrastructure development (Rs. 130 crore earlier) and one-time benefit to former players cost Rs 80 crore.

The Indian Premier League Governing Council remains unchanged.

Other appointments:

India Seniors Selection Committee: Sandeep Patil (chairman, West Zone), Vikram Rathour (North), Saba Karim (East), Roger Binny (South), Rajinder Singh Hans (Central) and Sanjay Jagdale (BCCI Secretary).

Junior selection committee: Chandrakant Pandit (chairman, West), Arun Kumar (North), Arup Bhattacharya (East), K. Jayaraman (South), Pritam Gandhe (Central) and Anurag Thakur (Hon Joint Secretary).

Women’s selection committee: Gargi Banerjee (chairman, East), Gulshan Sharma (North), Sudha Shah (South), Amrita Shinde (West), Rita Dey (Central).