Former India pace troika of Chetan Sharma, Abey Kuruvilla and Debasis Mohanty have been appointed as national selectors. Chetan will replace Sunil Joshi as the chairman of the panel on the basis of having earned more Test caps (23 to 15).
The appointment was announced on Thursday night after the Cricket Advisory Committee of Madan Lal, Rudra Pratap Singh and Sulakshana Naik interviewed 11 candidates shortlisted for the three vacant posts in the five-member selection committee. Joshi and Harvinder Singh, who is with India’s squad in Australia, will continue as selectors.
Chetan was preferred from the north zone over Vijay Dahiya, Ajay Ratra, Nikhil Chopra and Maninder Singh while Kuruvilla was opted ahead of Ajit Agarkar and Nayan Mongia from the west zone. Mohanty, the Odisha speedster, was elevated from the national junior selection panel for the slot from the east zone, thus pipping his Statemate Shiv Sundar Das and former Bengal swinger Ranadeb Bose.
Chetan — infamously remembered for the last-ball six he conceded to Pakistan’s Javed Miandad in Sharjah in 1986 — represented India in 23 Tests and 65 ODIs from 1984 to 1994.
He is the first Indian to pick an ODI hat-trick, achieving it versus New Zealand during the 1987 World Cup. Interestingly, Chetan was BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s teammate in the 1993-94 Ranji Trophy final for Bengal after switching allegiance from Haryana towards the end of his career.
Pivotal role
Interestingly, the thrilling Ranji Trophy final between Haryana and Mumbai in which Chetan played a pivotal role in helping Haryana win its only Ranji title was Kuruvilla’s First Class debut. Having worked as a junior national selector and a talent scout for Mumbai Indians, Kuruvilla is active on the domestic circuit.
Huge honour
“It’s obviously a huge honour and a greater responsibility. I thank the BCCI for bestowing faith in me and I'm looking forward to justifying it,” Kuruvilla, whose 10 Test and 25 ODIs came in a 21-month span starting March 1996, told The Hindu.
Mohanty worked as a bowling coach in domestic cricket and with the National Cricket Academy.
The former swinger, who played two Tests and 45 ODIs from 1997 to 2001, will be looking forward to working in tandem with his contemporaries and seniors.
The selection committee:
Chetan Sharma (chairman, north zone), Sunil Joshi (south), Abey Kuruvilla (west), Harvinder Singh (central), Debasis Mohanty (east).