WITH the Kris Srikkanth-led selection committee having come under recurrent flak,there was much anticipation around the announcement of their successors. Besides,this was to be the first selection committee to be picked since the selectors job stopped being honorary. Members of the outgoing panel had been paid Rs 40 lakh annually; incoming selectors will get Rs 60 lakh. The stakes were high,and unsurprisingly,close to 20 candidates from the five zones threw their hats in the ring before the annual general meeting of the board on Thursday. In the end,the BCCI named a completely revamped selection panel that included several surprises bringing in Sandeep Patil as chairman and former India wicket-keeper Saba Karim as East Zone representative,and dropping Mohinder Amarnath. Neither Patil nor Karim had been part of the original list of aspirants,and Amarnath was widely seen as Srikkanths heir apparent. Former UP left-arm spinner Rajinder Singh Hans from Central Zone,former India opener Vikram Rathour (North) and 1983 World Cup winning all-rounder Roger Binny (South) make up the rest of the selection committee. Binnys selection was never in doubt no one was expected to challenge the choice of the BCCI president but uncertainty about the rest prevailed until the morning of the AGM. Behind-the-scenes moves had continued late into the previous night,with some meetings extending up to 2 am,BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla said. Across the country,candidates spent a sleepless night,making anxious calls to sources in the board and media. A Central Zone candidate received a message in the wee hours from outgoing selector Narendra Hirwani,telling him he had made it sending the candidate into rapturous excitement. Besides the significant pay packet,a national selector gets overnight publicity,a chance to travel the world,and many perks (Srikkanth & Co got $ 300 as daily travel allowance on tours). Unfortunately,for this hopeful however,he did not ultimately make it. BCCI chief N Srinivasan said the process of choosing the selectors had been tedious,and consultations had gone on for long. He agreed that selection becoming a paid job had attracted more former cricketers than ever before. Canvassing began several months ago in some cases,moves had begun up to a couple of years ago. One Central Zone candidate is believed to have literally fallen at the feet of former BCCI president Shashank Manohar,begging him for a selectors post last year. The same candidate also tried to use his political connections with UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Even for candidates running a less in-your-face campaign,the last few months have meant making innumerable courtesy calls,sending out endless festival wishes,and a lot of subtle and not-so-subtle lobbying. All kinds of CVs were in the fray from veteran cricketers to those who had barely played a handful of first-class games. West Bengal Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim wanted his brother-in-law Arup Bhattacharya to become selector. Bhattacharya did ultimately get picked for the junior panel. And Mumbai Cricket Association president Ravi Savant was said to have promised the DY Patil chief,Vijay Patil,that his club coach Abey Kuruvilla would be pushed as West Zone selector in exchange for his vote. The job of an Indian selector had never been this hot. To BCCIs credit,it eventually picked a committee that cant really be faulted in any way.
