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ODI squad on sticky wicket, but court likely to spare it
NEW DELHI: The new national selection committee met for the first time in a city five-star hotel on Thursday evening to name the squad for the first three One-day
NEW DELHI: The new national selection committee met for the first time in a city five-star hotel on Thursday evening to name the squad for the first three One-day Internationals against New Zealand. However, there were doubts over whether the panel headed by former India stumper MSK Prasad will even be allowed to meet by the Supreme Court, which heard the BCCI’s objections to the Justice Lodha panel’s status report, pointing out that the cricket body had refused to implement many of its directives.
The selection committee was one of the major areas where the BCCI chose to ignore the Lodha panel’s recommendation. The Board picked a five-member committee on September 21 with only three among them — Prasad, Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh having played Tests. Jatin Paranjpe and Gagan Khoda, the other selectors, have played only ODIs.
The Lodha Committee had instructed the BCCI to replace its five-man panel with a three-member committee comprising only former Test players. The BCCI, which picked the selectors from applicants, argued that the Supreme Court-appointed panel’s conditions forced bigger names to keep away.
When the Supreme Court gives an interim order on Friday, the big question will be whether it will touch upon the selection panel. A bigger question will be over the validity of the 15-member side under MS Dhoni picked for the first three matches of the series starting on October 16.
It was BCCI joint secretary Amitabh Choudhary instead of secretary Ajay Shirke who convened the meeting. So, will the team chosen be struck down by the Supreme Court on Friday? Sports lawyer Vidushpat Singhania said the squad may escape the court’s axe. “It is unlikely they will invalidate the team selection if it has taken place in the correct manner, but not putting it out of the realm (of possibility),” he told HT.
One mitigating factor could be that the new panel was chosen nine days before the initial deadline of September 30 given by the Lodha panel. As the BCCI had gone against the recommendation to select only a three-member panel, “the selection of the team, they (Supreme Court bench) could actually invalidate it,” he said.
However, he felt such an order will be issued only as an extreme step. “They would not want to hurt the momentum of the team.”
