The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted an advertisement on its official website mentioning the requirements the candidate will need to fulfill to be considered for the job. The cricketer needs to have made at least seven Test or 30 First-Class appearances. The other criterion is either 10 ODIs or 20 First-Class matches. The deadline for submission of applications is January 25.
The head of the selection committee, Agarkar is from the West Zone alongside Salil Ankola, S Sharath from the South Zone, Shiv Sunder Das from the Central Zone, and Subroto Banerjee from the East Zone. Candidates from North Zone may get preference over others for the job.
"Save Ajit Agarkar, all the four others completed their one-year term on December 31, 2023. They were given one-year contract," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
"Technically, there is no rule that you can't have two selectors from the same zone, (but) the BCCI has always maintained the convention of having one selector from each zone and north zone had no representative after Chetan Sharma got sacked," he explained.
Agarkar was selected as the chairman after Chetan Sharma was sacked over his comments regarding selection in a sting operation.
"The rest (of the) four, Sharath, Ankola, Banerjee and Das completed five zones. Once Chetan was removed, the BCCI needed a man of stature and once Agarkar was on board, we had two from the same zone.
"But no rule was broken as it was always a convention. The BCCI had given all of them a one year term, which is extended every year upto a period of four years. Unfortunately, it seems Salil will have to make a move," the source added.
So far, there is no confirmation about when the new selector will join the committee. However, it is likely to happen during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Meanwhile, the squad for the last three Tests for the five-Test series against England will be announced next month.
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