As of Friday, the head selector post for the Indian senior men’s selection committee has been vacant after the departure of Chetan Sharma. In a “sting operation” conducted by Zee Media, the former India bowler was overheard leaking confidential information regarding Team India and prominent players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and others. This month, Chetan was given his old position back as selectors chairman.
Neither Chetan’s replacement on the selection committee nor the cause of his departure from BCCI has been made public. As the BCCI already has selection meetings scheduled, it is doubtful that they would begin looking for a new chairman right once. They can instead turn to the current panel to fill the role of temporary chairman. As compared to the present trio of Subroto Banerjee, Salil Ankola, and Sridharan Sharath, Shiv Sunder Das, a former India opener, has played the most Tests (23).
Following BCCI regulations, the panel’s chairmanship is assigned to the selector who has played in the most Test matches.
Chetan, who had been in Kolkata for the Ranji Trophy final between Bengal and Saurashtra, has already departed for Delhi. The former right-arm pacer was in hot water when Zee Media broadcast a “sting operation” in which he was seen discussing how senior Indian players use injections to make it seem as though they are always in peak physical condition.
The divide between Sourav Ganguly, the former head of the BCCI, and Virat Kohli, the former captain of the Indian cricket team, was one topic he covered. When Kohli said he wasn’t contacted before being demoted as ODI captain, Chetan suggested he was lying.
“Coach Rahul Dravid, captains Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya have completely lost faith in him. He couldn’t have possibly sat across the table along with them for selection committee meetings as he had lost all respect. He paid the price for being a big mouth,” a BCCI source told PTI.
The current T20I captain Hardik Pandya, bowler Umesh Yadav, and all-rounder Deepak Hooda are just a few of the prominent players that often visit Chetan Sharma at his home, according to Sharma.
According to reports, influential Indian team members and personnel expressed their scepticism to the highest levels of the BCCI.
Chetan was reportedly duped into participating in the sting operation by being told his help was needed with research for a docuseries airing on an OTT service.
