Paranjpe, Khoda to be Removed From BCCI’s Senior Selection Panel
BCCI was clearly told to trim the selection panel to three members in place of five, by the Lodha Committee.
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Jatin Paranjpe and Gagan Khoda are set to be removed from the BCCI senior selection panel after the Board was clearly told to trim to the panel to three members in place of five, as recommended by the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee.
As per the Lodha recommendations that have been approved by the apex court, senior selection committee was supposed to be a three-member team comprising Test players.
However, amid the administrative crisis, the BCCI went ahead with the selection committee meet for the England series on Friday with five members including Paranjpe and Khoda, who have not played Test cricket.
As it turns out, the Lodha committee had made an exception in the current circumstances and from next time onwards, the Indian team will be picked by a three-member panel.
The panel will next meet to pick the squad for the one-off Test against Bangladesh, scheduled from 8-12 February.
"The present Committee is permitted as an exception to make the selections indicated. Going forward, it will have to be strictly in terms of the Supreme Court judgement," Lodha Committee secretary Gopal Sankaranarayanan state in an email reply to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri ahead of the team selection yesterday.
With all office-bearers disqualified to convene the meeting, Johri was allowed to do that in a one-off case.
The BCCI had announced the new panel in September, with its now sacked president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke defying the court's diktat.
Chairman MSK Prasad, Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh – all former Test players – meet the eligibility criteria set by the Lodha Committee while Khoda and Paranjpe have only played two and four ODIs respectively.
The BCCI finds itself in a crisis following the Supreme Court order on Monday.
Besides sacking Thakur and Shirke, the apex court directed all office bearers of BCCI and state associations to give an undertaking that they will abide by the recommendations of the Lodha panel. The recommendations have rendered most of the office-bearers ineligible to continue in their respective roles.
(With inputs from PTI)
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