The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) is currently accepting applications for the selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the previous bunch were sacked after India's underwhelming 2022 T20 World Cup campaign. And they had seemingly landed the dream team of former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, and Indian legends MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, all of whom had sent in their applications! Or so they thought.
According to sources, the committee, currently consisting of Ashok Malhotra, Mr Jatin Paranjape and Ms Sulakshana Naik, received 'fake' applications for some of the biggest names in the history of world cricket, including the aforementioned, Inzamam-ul-Haq, MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.
Among the real applications that the CAC is expected to receive is that of the former head of the selection committee Chetan Sharma. Sources had previously informed Sports Tak that Chetan Sharma and Harvinder Singh have applied for the position on the committee as they have time left as per the rules.
Sources further added that top officials are in touch with some former cricketers for CAC but as of now there's no decision has been made on it. The sorting of the candidates will begin soon as soon as the CAC will be announced. But none of the former cricketers who have been mentioned above are expected to be a part of the new selection committee.
After India's T20 World Cup elimination, where India’s journey ended in the semi-finals, the BCCI decided not to extend the tenure of the previous committee. Fresh applications were invited with the apex cricket council planning to appoint the new panel in the coming weeks.
More than 60 applicants have applied for the post, including Sharma and Singh. The other two members of the erstwhile panel, Sunil Joshi and Debashish Mohanty haven’t re-applied. The BCCI hasn’t received applications from any big names barring a few former cricketers who wish to become members of the five-member selection committee.
Interestingly, current junior selection committee chairman S Sharath too has applied for the post. The other prominent names include Venkatesh Prasad, Dodda Ganesh, Maninder Singh, Nikhil Chopra, Atul Wassan, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Nayan Mongia, SS Das, Salil Ankola, Sameer Dighe, Ajay Ratra, Gyanendra Pandey, Jacob Martin, Subroto Banerjee and Iqbal Siddiqui.
The new selection panel will have to 'appoint captaincy for the team in each format'.
