TNI Bureau: After the team’s humiliating T20 World Cup elimination, India’s cricket board fired its entire selection committee, which was headed by veteran fast bowler Chetan Sharma, and issued a call for replacements.
Last week’s semi-final between England and Rohit Sharma’s side at Adelaide Oval saw England win by a 10-wicket margin, which caused the team—who last won a major championship at the 2013 Champions Trophy—to conduct further introspection.
Their exit shocked India’s army of ardent supporters and led to demands for heads to roll from commentators and the general people.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took a significant step Friday evening when it published a statement asking new applications to fill all five posts on its selection panel. A significant shake-up has been discussed since the day following the loss.
It happens a month after Sourav Ganguly, who was reputedly forced out in a political scuffle, was replaced as the head of the cash-rich board by World Cup champion Roger Binny.
The T20 squad will face a significant shift, with well-known senior players like Rohit, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin being gradually eased out, according to reports following England’s defeat.
The 35-year-old Rohit presently leads India in all three game forms.
The Indian Express reported that the new selection committee would be tasked with selecting different captains for various formats.
In a story on Saturday, it stated that “Split captaincy was the likely path in which Indian cricket will head after its big ICC trophy drought continued.”
The favourite to take over in the shortest format is Hardik Pandya, who is presently captaining the Indian T20 squad for a brief three-match series against New Zealand. The all-arounder this year guided Gujarat Titans to their first Indian Premier League championship. The first game between India and the Black Caps was called off on Friday without a ball being bowled, and the two teams will next face off on Sunday at Mount Maunganui.