Former North Zone batsman and Delhi selector Venkat Sundaram has been appointed as the head of the BCCI’s grounds and wickets committee. He replaces G Kasturirangan, whose resignation six weeks ago was first reported in The Indian Express. The committee — which also includes Daljit Singh, Dheeraj Parsana, Anand Shukla and Prabir Mukherjee — will meet in Kolkata on August 5 to decide, among other issues, whether Kanpur will stage a Test during the upcoming New Zealand series. Soon after the news broke, Venkat outlined his basic plan. ‘‘We have to work out a way to get a few green wickets before the start of the new season. The rains have been good this year and we must capitalise on it. We should have an open mind on the type of wickets made available for international matches,’’ he said. He said he welcomed the chance to work at the grassroot level, pointing out that his interaction with the New Zealand Sports Turf Institute and association with the Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) could come in handy. ‘‘The wicket at the TERI Oval in Gurgaon — for which we’d brought in special grass from Bangalore — is one of the best in this part of the country and have been appreciated by several top cricketers. Let us make it happen in other parts of the country, too,’’ he said.
