On Tuesday (September 3), the BCCI announced that Ajay Ratra had been appointed to the board's men's selection committee, taking the place of Salil Ankola. Here is what the committee looks like now.
In January this year, the BCCI had invited applications for the role of men's national team selector. At the time, it was expected, although not formally confirmed, that Salil Ankola would be leaving the panel. A former pace bowler for India, he had been appointed in January 2023 but it had been reported that he would not receive a contract extension.
Read more: Mehidy Hasan Miraz dedicates Player of the Series award to killed anti-discrimination protestors
The reason behind this was the appointment of Ajit Agarkar as chief selector in July 2023. Agarkar, like Ankola, is from Mumbai and therefore the West Zone. While having two members from the same zone of India on the selection panel is not barred by the BCCI constitution, the board has long stuck to the convention of each selector coming from a different one.
Agarkar had replaced Chetan Sharma, who came from the North Zone. As a result, the zone had not been represented as long as Agarkar and Ankola were on the committee together.
🚨 Brendon McCullum is now England's all-format coach of the senior men's team.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 3, 2024
He will assume the role in white-ball cricket from January 2025.
READ: https://t.co/JxI3x7IUan pic.twitter.com/2qEkaGE06u
But on Tuesday, the BCCI formalised Ankola's exit and simultaneously announced that his place would be taken by Ajay Ratra, who hails from the North Zone. A wicketkeeper who represented Haryana, Goa and Tripura in domestic cricket, Ratra made his Test debut in 2002. He went on to represent India six times in the red-ball format, and 12 times in ODIs.
Ratra's knock of 115 against the West Indies in 2002 was the first overseas century by an Indian wicketkeeper in Test cricket. It also made him the youngest wicketkeeper ever to score a Test century, a record that still stands today.
More: How has Brendon McCullum fared as a white-ball coach?
In their announcement, the BCCI said: "As a selector, Mr. Ratra will work alongside the existing members of the selection committee to identify and support the next generation of cricketers who will represent India on the global stage.
"Ratra has an extensive coaching experience having worked as a Head Coach of Assam, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. He was also a part of the coaching staff of the Indian team during their ODI series in South Africa in 2023."
Ajay Ratra joins BCCI's men's selection panel: Who are the members of the committee?
With the appointment of Ratra, India's selection committee now has one selector each from the five zones – north, south, east, west and central. They are as follows.
- Ajit Agarkar (Chief selector - West Zone)
- Ajay Ratra (North Zone)
- S Sharath (South Zone)
- Subroto Banerjee (East Zone)
- Shiv Sunder Das (Central Zone)
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
