The Selectors Would Be Staying Back To Pick India’s Squad For Australia Tour:
The three outgoing selectors — Devang Gandhi, Jatin Paranjape, and Sarandeep Singh — are likely to remain at least until the Jumbo India squad is named for the year-end Australian tour, primarily to ensure continuity. Gandhi, Paranjape, and Singh are finished their four-year term (three plus one) on September 30, but the BCCI is unlikely to interview the prospective candidates anytime soon and will still stay with the current committee.
A leading website has reported that the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), consisting of Madan Lal (head), Rudra Pratap Singh, and Sulakshana Naik, has not yet received any details from the Board about the conduct of interviews for the three soon-to-be-vacant positions.
“Yes, no intimation has been sent to the CAC as of now. Obviously, the COVID-19 shutdown has thrown all the preparations in disarray and now the emphasis is on the IPL. Even, there is no domestic cricket taking place at the moment,” said a senior BCCI official to the leading sports website on conditions of anonymity.
There is a school of thought within the BCCI that at this point in time, with the IPL beginning, it is best for the three outgoing panel members to stay at least until the Indian squad is confirmed for the Australian tour. The team will be revealed between the second and third weeks of October.
“If you look, MSK Prasad and Gagan Khoda have been replaced in March 2020 and not in September 2019. There’s absolutely no harm if Devang, Jatin, and Sarandeep are helping Sunil and Harvinder out in the Australian series and could be the England series. “They’ve covered domestic cricket extensively and they have a reasonable understanding of the power of the bench,” the source added.
The Supreme Court hearing on the BCCI request to waive the cooling-off time for President Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Jay Shah is another aspect. The announcement of new selectors is conventionally made during the AGM, as the selection panel is a sub-committee of the BCCI.
23-25 Member Playing Squad For Australia Tour:
Bearing in mind the health and safety issues, the BCCI is likely to send an expanded playing squad to Australia, the size of which will be between 23 and 25. “It is only fair that at least 23 to 25 players are played just as Pakistan and the West Indies did in England.
Players from India A squad also goes, it would enable us to have a proper four-day first-class bio-bubble match simulation, “said the BCCI official, who is dedicated to growth, to the leading sports website.
There is a chance that the support staff, headed by head coach Ravi Shastri, as well as the players who will not be part of the IPL play-offs, will enter Australia directly by the end of October or the first week of November, with the others joining the bubble after finishing their IPL play-offs.
