This is an archive article published on September 24, 2016

Opinion The right choice?

BCCI’s new selectors have stoked controversy. Onus is on panel to prove its innocence

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September 28, 2016 02:53 PM IST First published on: Sep 24, 2016 at 12:50 AM IST

MSK Prasad, the new chairman of the panel of selectors.

By all accounts, MSK Prasad, the new chairman of the panel of selectors, cares about cricket. He has developed infrastructure at the grassroots level in Andhra Pradesh to spot and nurture the best talent. He is also a certified coach. The question that can be posed against his panel isn’t about his qualification, therefore, or members’ lack of international experience — a combined experience of 13 Tests. It is about whether Prasad’s men have the stature to dictate terms to Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble, if and when such an occasion arises.

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Consider this. If Rohit Sharma continues to fail in Tests, and more importantly, if the team management wants to persevere with him as they have continued to do thus far, can Prasad overrule them? Or if Cheteshwar Pujara who failed a few times (before this knock against New Zealand) loses the trust of the management, would Prasad stick with him? Typically, the selection panel is identified by its chairman; the other four members can maintain a low profile but the chairman must be assertive when necessary. Or else, a Sandeep Patil couldn’t have overseen the phasing out of a few seniors in his term.

The Lodha committee’s recommendation for three selectors can be seen as judicial overreach — will they say, next, what the Indian team should do if the toss is won? But some of the selectors’ choices do raise eyebrows. To pick 36 year-old Sarandeep Singh from the anonymity of club matches, and make him a national selector, is a perplexing move by BCCI president Anurag Thakur. Similar doubts can be raised about a couple of others in the panel. Also, is it wise to populate the panel with only cricketers of recent vintage? The onus will be on Prasad to prove that his panel will not be a rubber stamp.