MUMBAI: Great expectations turned into a great disappointment as the Board of Control for Cricket in India gave to itself the long-awaited professional selection committee.
The rumblings over payment of a sizeable compensation to the national selectors had been heard for some time now. One of the rationales behind this demand was that the men put in charge of selecting future Indian teams should be made accountable for their action and deliberations. An annual fee of Rs. 25 lakhs would also enable these men to concentrate on their job on a full-time basis.
All things considered, one expected former Test players of high standing to be handpicked for the job. But the ultimate choice of men to make up the new selection committee has left a lot to be desired.
Of the five selectors, there are only two, Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Yashpal Sharma, who appear fit for the job. Yet another former Test player, leg-spinner Narendr Hirwani, has been in the oblivion for a long time and may not quite be abreast with the latter-day developments of the game.
Now, the question to ask is on what particular qualifications were the two non-Test players, Surendra Bhave of Maharashtra and Bengal’s Raja Venkat, elected.
An earlier proviso that a candidate to be nominated to the selection committee should have played at least 25 Test matches, was dropped to appease some zones to nominate their choice of man. Hence, these two got through.
Surendra Bhave, at least, has played first-class cricket for 10 years or more and has scored tons of runs. He is also in touch with all that has been happening over the years. As a part of the administration, he was the manager of the Indian team on a couple of tours. But that still leaves him short of the basic requirements.
The less said about Raja Venkat the better. He wasn’t even a regular in the Bengal team and has thus played only a few first-class matches. His only century had to be dug out and it turned out that it was against a weak Tripura team.
The question is not whether a man like Raja Venkat deserves a place in the selection committee and the sizeable annual fee. A more relevant question is whether he can sit in judgment over a player like Sourav Ganguly, under whom he did not even get a chance to play for Bengal,.
In these days of fierce competition for each and every place in the Indian team, things will become messy if a majority of the selectors impose their quixotic wisdom on the deliberations.
