Former Team India batter Sunil Gavaskar issued a warning to the new chief selector after reports emerged that Ajit Agarkar is set to leave the role.
Gavaskar, in his column for the Mid-Day, talked about how the new selector would be from the West Zone. The cricketer-turned commentator said that, reportedly, the new selector will be selecting the squad for the tour of New Zealand.
New Chief Selector to Select Teams for India vs New Zealand Series
The India tour of New Zealand would be a three-format tour with five T20Is, five ODIs and two Test matches. Gavaskar in his column said that, as per reports, it will be a new selector who will be selecting the teams for the series. If going by Gavaskar’s words, the new selector could be from the West Zone.
The former opening batter said, “If reports are to be believed, the teams for New Zealand will be chosen with a new Chairman of Selectors. Since the BCCI still follows the practice of choosing selectors from each of the five zones, it will be someone from the West Zone. The zonal system of the Ranji Trophy is a thing of the past, but the appointment of selectors from each of the erstwhile five zones is still going on.”
Sunil Gavaskar Issues Warning to New Chief Selector
Gavaskar further issued a warning to the new selector and talked about how a single mistake would be remembered and could be criticised by media professionals, ex-cricketers, fans and other stakeholders of the game. The 77-year-old said, “There is, of course, honour of being the Chairman of the national selection committee, but it also comes with a target mark on the back. Like with umpiring, wicketkeeping and now, commentary, the nine good things that have been done will be forgotten and the one so-called error will be magnified a hundred times and discussed over and over again.”
He gave an example of his own teammate, Gundappa Viswanath, and how he lost respect when he was elected the Chief Selector. “Gundappa Viswanath, is a classic example of a Chairman of the Selection Committee, who had to face the barbs for many of the decisions the committee took where he was outvoted, but as Chairman, he had to come down to the room where the media was waiting and try and justify the omission or selection. For someone, who in my view, is among the very, very few cricketers in India who didn’t have a single enemy while he was playing, he lost a bit of that popularity when he became the Chairman of the Selection Committee,” Gavaskar added.