The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday invited fresh applications to fill a vacant post in the Men’s Selection Committee and set June 30 as the deadline for submission of the same.
The move comes after Chetan Sharma resigned in February as the chief selector, following a sting operation conducted by a TV news channel, where he shared internal info about the team and selection process.
Notably, this was Sharma’s second term as chairman of selectors which ended in less than two months, after taking charge in January this year. Following the resignation, the selection committee was reduced to four functioning members, with Shiv Sunder Das taking charge as interim chief selector working alongside Salil Ankola, Subroto Banerjee and S Sharath.
The Indian board said the qualification and experience criteria for applicants is they must have played at least seven Tests or 30 first-class matches, or 10 ODI and 20 first-class matches and the applicant should have retired from the game at least five years ago and has not already served for five years as a member in any of the BCCI’s cricket committees.
The board also listed the key job duties and responsibilities for the applicant: Select the best possible team in a fair and transparent manner, plan and prepare a strong bench strength for the senior men’s national team, and attend team meetings as and when required.
The BCCI also said that the applicant will be needed to travel to watch domestic and international matches, as well as prepare and provide evaluation reports of the respective team performances to the apex council of BCCI on a quarterly basis.
The candidate will also address the media on team selection as and when instructed by BCCI, as well as appoint captain for the team in each format and adhere to the rules and regulation of the BCCI.
Post the deadline ending at 6pm on June 30, the screening/shortlisting of applications will happen. It is followed by the shortlisted candidates being called for personal interviews for further evaluation, which will be done the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising Sulakshana Naik, Ashok Malhotra, and Jatin Paranjape, who was a former selector himself in the MSK Prasad-led panel.
The BCCI has also invited applications for one post of the Head of Sports Science & Medicine/Academy Physio for every state cricket association in the country, with an age limit of applicants at 50 years.
They have cited work experience needed of five years as state senior physio in Ranji Trophy or eight years experience of working in a high-performance sports team from the suitable candidate, with previous experience of working in cricket teams and postgraduate qualification specializing in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy/Sports & Exercise Medicine/Sports Rehabilitation/Sports Physiotherapy termed under desirable qualifications.
The purpose of the role, as said by the BCCI, is to make the candidate an integral part of a multidisciplinary team who is expected to deliver highest standards of professional care in a confidential manner and possess abilities to lead a physiotherapy and strength and conditioning (S&C) team entrusted with top level performance.
The candidate will also be in working relationships with the Head Sports Science & Sports Medicine, director of cricket at National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, as well as with medical experts, coaching staff of Indian team, NCA, state associations, sports science & sports medicine team members of the state cricket association and captains of respective teams.