The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took its first major decision regarding the men’s team under the new president Roger Binny as the board sacked the entire selection committee after India’s failure to win a single big tournament and the T20 World Cup exit in the semi-finals seemed to be the final nail in the coffin. The tenure was reaching its two-year completion next month, however, the board decided to act upon it a few weeks before.
The five member-panel led by former Indian fast bowler Chetan Sharma, Abey Kuruvilla, Debasis Mohanty, Sunil Joshi and Harvinder Singh was appointed in December 2020. While the committee took some big decisions regarding transition in Test cricket, captaincy across formats, however, one thing that stuck out evident in the last couple of years was inconsistency in selection.
Here’s a look at key takeaways from the selection panel’s tenure as the board invites fresh application for a new committee:
1. Inconsistency in selection
A player got selected just after the IPL, stayed with the squad for a few series but was removed suddenly without playing a game and but if someone was injured, he returned to the squad. For e.g., Sanju Samson, who led the Rajasthan Royals to the final of the IPL 2022, wasn’t part of the home T20Is against South Africa in June but was picked for the Ireland series. Samson played the second and the final T20I but wasn’t part of the playing XI in the first T20I against England despite being in the squad.
Samson returned in the ODI series against West Indies and was preferred ahead of Ishan Kishan before being named in the T20Is as well, replacing KL Rahul. Samson, who is considered one of the best impact players in the middle-overs, played the last the last two T20I and all three ODIs, followed by the Zimbabwe series. Samson scored a couple of half-centuries and a match-winning 43*, however, was snubbed again for the T20 assignments when the regulars returned. In 6 T20Is, Samson has played in 2022, he averages 44.75 with a strike rate of 158.41. But, was nowhere to be seen in the T20 World Cup squad. Similar thing took place with Venkatesh Iyer, who was called in after the IPL 2021 but a couple of bad games and isn’t in the scheme of things anymore.
2. The Virat Kohli Saga
Contradictions in statements, uninformed decisions and sudden resignation – Virat Kohli’s captaincy saga was one of the infamous episodes in the last couple of years in the Indian cricket. Kohli had decided to give up T20 captaincy after the T20 World Cup 2021, which he had announced even before the tournament. However, a month later, he was removed from ODI captaincy as well by the selectors as they wanted one white-ball captain. While the erstwhile BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and Sharma had said that they asked Kohli to reconsider his decision of giving up captaincy in T20s, the former captain contradicted both of them saying that he was informed just 90 minutes before the meeting that he was being removed as the ODI captain as well. A month later, following loss to South Africa (1-2), Kohli gave up captaincy in the longest format as well.
3. Transition in Test matches
Better late than never! After some lacklustre performances by the seniors, the Indian Test team was asking for transition in the longest format. However, the new management under head coach Rahul Dravid showed faith and took the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane to South Africa. But losses in South Africa gave them a reality check and they decided to move on not just from the two veteran batters but wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha and experienced pacer Ishant Sharma too were axed as the Men in Blue moved towards a new phase in the longest format. While Pujara did return to the side after an oustanding County season, it seems we may have seen the last of other three as the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, KS Bharat and Hanuma Vihari were given regular chances.
4. Lack of press conferences (accountability)
In last one year, the panel has addressed just two press conferences. Nothing before the Asia Cup, the T20 World Cup this year, nothing after IPL, especially when questionable selections were made – omission of Prithvi Shaw, persistence with Avesh Khan, Ashwin-Shami getting called up just before the two multi-team events after not playing T20s for almost a year. Whether it was furore over Hardik Pandya’s fitness last year or the lack of accountability on decisions surrounding Virat Kohli’s captaincy, it just became worse and worse. Yes, the chairman Sharma did address the conference for the selection of squads for New Zealand and Bangladesh, but as it turned out, it was one, probably too late.
