Venkatesh Prasad frontrunner to become chief national selector: Report

New Delhi. Former India fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad is at the forefront of the race to become India’s next selector. After the semi-final exit in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, BCCI took some major decisions and sacking the selection committee was one of them. The board has invited applications for this post and many former cricketers have applied for it. Many players have applied for the post but it is highly likely that Venkatesh Prasad will be the chief selector to fill the vacancy and will play a key role in the selection process.

According to the news of Times of India, Venkatesh Prasad is the frontrunner for the post of selectors and he is also likely to be appointed as the national chief selector. The report further reveals that Prasad’s vast experience of 33 Tests and 161 ODIs during his career strengthens his case.

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The former fast bowler has an impressive resume representing India in 33 Tests and 161 ODIs from 1996 to 2001, taking a total of 292 international wickets. Apart from this, he was also the bowling coach of the Indian team that won the inaugural World T20 in 2007. He held the same position with Chennai Super Kings from 2008-09. Prasad later became the bowling coach of the Punjab Kings, and was also the head coach of Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

Apart from playing and coaching experience, Venkatesh Prasad was also the Under-19 selector between 2016 and 2018. In this period, India played in one Under-19 World Final (2016 in Bangladesh) and won another (2018 in New Zealand). According to the report, “D Vasu and Kanwaljit Singh are the other applicants from the South Zone, but Kanwaljit’s age is 64, while the eligibility criteria to become a selector is 60. From West Zone, Mumbai chief selector Salil Ankola is the frontrunner, with Nayan Mongia and Sameer Dighe also in the running. Atul Vasan and Ajay Ratra have applied from North Zone. Subroto Banerjee and SS Das are strong contenders from East Zone, while Nikhil Chopra can be the dark horse from North Zone.

Chetan Sharma also applied again
Former chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma has reapplied for the post in the All India Selection Committee. Apart from Chetan, Harvinder Singh, who was included in the selection panel from the Central Zone, had also applied for the post again. It is well known that Chetan and his panel’s performance and consistency in selection has been poor in the recent past, with the BCCI deciding not to extend their tenure for more years.

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Chetan Sharma (North Zone), Harvinder Singh (Central Zone), Sunil Joshi (South Zone) and Debashish Mohanty (East Zone) have had the shortest tenures as senior national selectors in recent times. Some of these were appointed in 2020 and some in 2021. A senior national selector usually gets a tenure of four years, subject to extension.

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Tags: BCCI, Chetan Sharma, National Selection Panel, team india, Venkatesh Prasad