Player with most Test caps to be chief selector, says BCCI president Sourav Ganguly

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India [BCCI] president Sourav Ganguly clarified that the next chairman of selectors will be the one with most amount of Test caps and not the earliest to have played for India. The head of the five-man selection committe will be appointed by the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising of former cricketers Madan Lal, RP Singh and Sulakshana Naik, who were chosen on Friday and handed a one-year contract.

"It will be the one with the most Tests," Ganguly told Hindustan Times when asked about the criteria of selection.

Currently, the slots of one selector and the chairman is vacant after chief selector MSK Prasad and Gagan Khoda's terms were over. However, Prasad has been asked to continue until a new head of selectors is chosen.

The CAC will now conduct interviews and chose the concerned person. 

There has been some confusion regarding the appointment of the chief selector due to a clause which says 'the senior most Test cap from among the members of the committee shall be appointed the chairman' but Ganguly's clarification now ends the speculation. 

Ex-players like Ajit Agarkar, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Venkatesh Prasad, Rajesh Chauhan, Nayan Mongia, Chetan Chauhan, Nikhil Chopra, Abey Kuruvilla have applied for the post and if Ganguly's statement is to be believed, Mongia is the leading candidate for the job.

From the above list of players, Mongia has the most number of Test caps with 44 and is followed by Chetan Chauhan (40 Tests), Prasad (33 Tests) and Agarkar (26 Tests). Following them are Rajesh Chauhan (21 Test), Kuruvilla (10 Tests) and Chopra (1 Test) respectively. Interestingly, Prasad has already served in the junior selection committee for one-and-a-half year and cannot serve a full four-year term as per the BCCI constitution

Another area of ambiguity is if BCCI should look beyond zonal considerations to make the selection committee. A BCCI source clarified that everyone who has applied stands a chance.

"No, we shall see. India is a vast country, so we will try and keep zones in mind. But everyone who has applied and meets the given criteria, stands a chance," a BCCI source said.