Ramesh Powar is a favourite to succeed Ajit Agarkar on BCCI’s senior men’s selection committee. The former India spinner from Mumbai is expected to join the panel, which will be headed by Pragyan Ojha.
Currently, Ojha is heading the panel on an interim basis.
After the deadline for applications to the senior panel closed on October 14, the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) interviewed four or five candidates, including former India opener Wasim Jaffer, for the position. The interviews, it is learnt, were held on October 15.
Cricbuzz understands the CAC has decided to repose faith in Powar, who featured in two Tests and 31 ODIs for India. Among the others interviewed for the senior selection committee position were Connor Williams and Jacob Martin, both former Baroda players, and Mumbai’s Salil Ankola.
Whoever eventually joins the committee, it now appears that the panel will have a permanent representative from the Centre of Excellence (CoE). BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia had earlier explained why VVS Laxman attended a selection committee meeting in Guwahati earlier this month.
It is understood that Laxman was also part of Friday’s online selection meeting to pick the ODI and Test squads for the upcoming New Zealand tour. Going forward, he is expected to continue attending selection meetings to provide a better understanding of players’ injury status and availability.
Parthiv Patel, who, reportedly, was a strong contender to head the new selection committee, had apparently not applied for the position. At least, he was not among those interviewed.
Powar was also interviewed for the junior selection panel and was initially considered for the chairman’s role before eventually being co-opted into the senior panel. The chairman junior selection committee role may now go to Dodda Ganesh, a former India pacer from Karnataka.
According to sources, Arun Sharma of Jammu & Kashmir, could be the representative from the North Zone. Sharma (53) had played 65 first class and 47 List A games between 1994 and 2009. A certain L Pawar, a former Gujarat player, may be the West Zone selector in the Under 19 panel while a certain Bora from Assam may come from East; most likely, it is the 54-year old Deep Bora. From the Central Zone, it could be Pankaj Singh, although it is still not confirmed.
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