Madan Lal-led CAC to announce three new selectors today

MUMBAI: The BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) will announce the names of the three new national selectors on Thursday, after conducting online interviews of the candidates earlier in the day. This is the first time that the CAC conducted online interviews to pick selectors.
Incidentally, the BCCI’s 89th Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held in Ahmedabad on the same day as well. The CAC was thus given an extension to find the new selectors at a time when India are locked in a Test series in Australia, and then host England for a full tour from February. The CAC is headed by former World Cup-winning seamer Lal and comprises ex-India pacer RP Singh and former India women’s team player Sulakshana Naik. The trio’s extension, for another year, is set to be ratified at the AGM.
Lal, Singh and Naik had chosen Sunil Joshi and Harvinder Singh as the national selectors. On Thursday, they interviewed Nayan Mongia, Ajit Agarkar and Abey Kuruvilla (West Zone), Maninder Singh, Chetan Sharma and Nikhil Chopra (North Zone) and Ranadeb Bose and Shiv Sunder Das (East Zone) for the three vacant posts in what is supposed to be a five-man panel. The shortlisted applicants will be replacing Devang Gandhi (East Zone), Sarandeep Singh (North Zone) and Jatin Paranjape (West Zone), in the senior men’s selection committee.
The England tour will mark international cricket’s resumption in India after almost a year. The tour starts in February and comprises four Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is. The first Test will be held in Chennai from February 5 and Ahmedabad will host a day-night (third) Test from February 24.