Blogs Srikkanth as the New Chairman of Selectors?
September 26th, 2008 by kapoorIt is time for the new Chairman of selectors to take over the reins from Dilip Vengsarkar. The next Annual General Meeting of the BCCI is the venue for the announcement of person due to take over on the all-important profile. Already five names have been shortlisted and the new Chairman has to be one among these though one name has gained more prominence than the rest. This is the name of former Indian skipper Kris Srikkanth. The South Zone heavyweight has already had short coaching stunts with various junior teams.
This time the new selectors would be held professionally responsible for their conduct and are about to get paid at par with the international selectors rather than hold just honoury jobs as was the norm till now. In this new scenario, the responsibility and the demeanour of the new Chairman of Selectors is bound to increase even further and be under more media scrutiny.
There is however some concern over Srikkanth’s selection as he is believed to somewhat unpredictable in his conduct. There are other candidates who have interesting profiles as well. These include Yashpal Sharma from the North Zone, former ace leg-spinner Narender Hirwani from the Central Zone, Raja Venkat from the East and S. Bhave from the West Zone. Some people have gone on to say that it is going to be a close race between the media-savvy Kris Srikkanth and the suave Bhave.
There is another problem with the new professional system of having paid selectors. Kris Srikkanth has refused to vacate his post from the MCA – Mumbai Cricket Association. It was a possibility before to hold on to two posts as the appointment of selectors wasn’t done as a part of a professional contract. Now, the new selectors would be asked to resign from all their regional commitments. In such a predicament, Srikkanth may just lose steam in face of Bhave who is seen as being more diplomatic of the two.
The BCCI has made clear that the new panel of selectors would be asked to quit their jobs as TV commentators or as special judges on the various cricket shows. This may again eat into Kris’s royalty from a range of TV programmes he is a part of. However, Bhave might just be satisfied with the annual package of Rs. 25 lakh per annum that has been promised to the new Chairman of selectors, in case he tips over Srikkanth.
