Gagan Khoda excited to resume ‘tough’ job of BCCI national selector

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday reinstated former selectors Gagan Khoda and Jatin Paranjpe as part of the senior national selection committee after both were removed in January 2017. They had been removed as they were not former Test cricketers, as per the requirement set by the Lodha committee. But with the BCCI registering the new constitution as per the Supreme Court orders, the two are back at the helm.

The Supreme Court has not only removed the clause of only former Test players being eligible to be appointed as national selectors, but has also gone back to the old rule of five members constituting the national selection panel. The Lodha Panel had proposed a 3-member team for the role.

An elated Khoda, a veteran of 132 first-class matches, is keen to start from where he had left after being unceremoniously removed due to the Lodha panel suggestions.

“Really looking forward to start off from where I left. It isn’t easy when there are so many matches to be watched and you have just 3 members in the panel. Having been a part of the committee I can tell you that it isn’t an easy job being a selector as you have a lot of travelling to do and matches to follow. Really excited and happy to be back. I am hoping to help my co-selectors in picking the best of talents,” Khoda said during a telephonic conversation with Hindustan Times.

Despite their removal from functioning as selectors, both were being paid by the board as they can only be removed officially in the Board’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). Khoda and Paranjpe re-join chief selector MSK Prasad, Sarandeep Singh and Devang Gandhi.

The process of reinstatement of the duo is seen as a reason for the delay in announcing the squad for the last two Test matches against England starting August 30. The three-member panel, led by Prasad, had named the squad only for the first three Tests. With Bhuvneshwar Kumar yet to recover completely from the back injury, the panel is likely to retain Shardul Thakur for the rest of the series. Thakur had earlier come in as cover for Bhuvaneshwar with a call to be taken on the pacer after assessing his injury status.

First Published: Aug 22, 2018 13:31 IST