Following Chetan Sharma’s sensational sting operation, the former BCCI chief selector was sacked and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are currently operating with an interim chief in place, with Shiv Sunder Das being assisted by S Sharath, Subroto Banerjee and Salil Ankola.
There was a time when former captains of the Indian team were among the chief selectors, such as Dilip Vengsarkar (2006-2008) and Krishnamachari Srikkanth (2008-2012), but according to a PTI report, the low remuneration for the selectors’ job has hampered big names from taking up the role.
In the past few years, many big names in Indian cricket had distanced themselves from the selectors’ role, and it could be one of the reasons why the selectors are not ‘taken seriously’, given their stature.
As per the same report, BCCI’s chief selector earns ₹1 crore annually whereas the other four members of the selection committee are paid ₹90 lakh per annum.
Given the comparatively low remuneration for former players as compared to what they earned during their playing days from BCCI and the other income sources such as endorsements and cricket academies etc, means that big names such as Virender Sehwag have not applied for the selector’s role despite being eligible.
“During CoA’s time, Viru (Sehwag) was asked to apply for head coach’s job and then it went to Anil Kumble. It is unlikely he will apply himself and also the pay package isn’t something that will be financially viable for someone of his stature,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by PTI, on terms of anonymity.
“But if we talk about stature, only he makes the cut from North Zone,” he added.
There are many other big names as well, particularly for the north region with Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh among those who could be considered but as per the BCCI’s rules of a five-year retirement period, they haven’t fulfilled the criteria so far.
The PTI source also added that BCCI can increase the pay package of the selectors to attract some of the big names in Indian cricket.
“It is not that BCCI can’t pay a chairman of selectors at least ₹4-5 crore. It can actually solve a lot of these conflict of interest issues which prevent prominent players from even thinking of coming into selection committee,” he stated.
The report further added that selectors tend to find it difficult unless they have a certain ‘pedigree’ when they share the table against a certain Virat Kohli or Rahul Dravid.
“When Dilip bhai was chairman, he had to make a choice between S Badrinath and Virat Kohli. He saw a few India A games in Australia and he knew whom to back. Rest is history. He could stand his ground in front of Greg Chappell before that,” the official recalled.
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