The Board of Control for Cricket of India (BCCI) had recently invited applications for two vacant positions in the national selection panel. One vacant place was of the Chairman of the panel, which was earlier held by MSK Prasad, while the other one was of a panel member headed by Gagan Khoda.
Now, the Indian board has found the replacement of Prasad in the form of legendary spinner Sunil Joshi. The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising Madan Lal, RP Singh, and Sulakshana Naik, also selected former pacer Harvinder Singh as a selection committee member, replacing Gagan Khoda.
The committee recommended Mr. Sunil Joshi for the role of Chairman of the senior men’s selection committee. The CAC will review the candidates after a one-year period and make the recommendations to the BCCI, ” read a statement from BCCI Secretary Jay Shah as quoted by HT.
Joshi played 15 Tests and 69 ODIs between 1996 and 2001 for India. The 49-year-old took 41 wickets in Tests, and 69 in ODIs. Harvinder, on the other hand, played in three Tests and 16 ODIs between 1998 and 2001. The 42-year-old managed to grab four wickets in red-ball cricket and 24 scalps in white-ball cricket.
Earlier, the CAC had shortlisted five candidates for interviews — Joshi, Harvinder, Venkatesh Prasad, Rajesh Chauhan, and L S Sivaramakrishnan — from a list of 40 applicants.
“We have picked the best guys for the job. We picked them (Joshi and Harvinder) because they were clear in their views,” said Madan Lal.
On the selection of Joshi, Lal said, “We liked his straight-forward attitude. He is also experienced (having been part of the Bangladesh support staff)”.
Joshi was chosen from the South Zone, while Harvinder was picked from the Central zone.
