Cricket: India add two former players to new national senior team selection panel
Singh, Ojha added as newest members to Indian selection panel
After successfully defending their Asia Cup title and confirming our cricket predictions in Dubai last week, India are now set for a jam-packed end to the year, with the team already back in action, albeit in the longest format, against the West Indies on home turf.
Behind the scenes, the Board of Control for Cricket in India have also been busy, having to find suitable replacements for Sridharan Sharath and Subroto Banerjee, who recently stepped down from their roles as part of the national team’s selection panel.
Sharath, who served as a senior selector since 2023, has now been appointed as the chairman of the junior selection committee. Other backroom changes include Mithun Manhas succeeding Roger Binny as the BCCI president and Amita Sharma taking over as women’s selection committee chair.
After deliberation, the BCCI confirmed that former India internationals Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh have been chosen to fill the roles, joining chairman Ajit Agarkar, Shiv Sundar Das and Ajay Ratra as part of the five-man selection committee for the foreseeable future.
Ojha made his name for the Men in Blue as a left-arm spinner and featured for the national team in 24 Tests, 18 ODIs and six T20Is, while Singh was one of India’s most lethal swing bowlers in his heyday and featured in 82 matches across all formats.
During the announcement of the new members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), the BCCI revealed that Singh and Ojha were chosen from a list of applicants that included the likes of Amay Khurasiya, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Zaidi and Shakti Singh.
India off to storming start on Day 1 of West Indies Test
Following their Asia Cup triumph, India have taken no time in settling back into the five-day format, having stormed out the blocks on Day 1 of their first Test match against the West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday.
After losing the toss and being put in to bowl by Roston Chase, the Men in Blue made their first breakthrough in the fourth over by knocking over Tagenarine Chanderpaul for a duck and proceeded to bowl the men from the Caribbean out for just 162 runs in their first innings.
Mohammad Siraj, who had a sensational tour of England a few months ago, picked up from where he left off and was the pick of the Indian bowlers on Wednesday, when he notched up 4/40 in 14 overs. Jasprit Bumrah (3/42), Kuldeep Yadav (2/25) and Washington Sundar (1/9) were also among the wickets.
With 20+ overs still to play in the day, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul put on a 68-run stand for the first wicket before the former was dismissed for 36. Sai Sudharsan only added seven runs at number three, while Rahul and Shubman Gill took the team to stumps on Day 1 at 121/2.
