BCCI reinstates Gagan Khoda, Jatin Paranjpe as national selectors

MUMBAI:The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday reinstated former India players Gagan Khoda and Jatin Paranjpe as senior national selectors after both were removed in January last year from the selection panel for not being Test cricketers as per the requirement set by the Lodha committee.
Both were, however, being paid as per their contract, as they could only be removed officially in the Board’s Annual General Meeting (AGM).Khoda and Paranjpe will thus re-join chief selector MSK Prasad, Sarandeep Singh and Devang Gandhi, after the
Supreme Court modified the Lodha reforms and re-instated five selectors in the national panel.
This development, TOI has learnt, led to the deferment of the selection meeting, which was supposed to be held on Tuesday, to pick the Indian team for the last two Tests of the on-going series against England. “The meeting has been postponed by a few days, as we need to give time to Khoda and Paranjpe to be available to join the panel,” a source in the BCCI said. Paranjpe will, thus, have to quit as a Mumbai selector.
Likewise, in the case of the junior selection committee, former Punjab wicketkeeper Amit Sharma, who too was ousted due to Lodha reforms in January last year, will be re-instated. The junior committee is headed by Ashish Kapoor, and includes Gyanendra Pandey and Rakesh Parikh, besides Sharma now. The fifth member of the junior panel will be chosen by the high-profile Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which includes batting greats Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly. “We’ve sent them a mail, in which we’ve given them a few names, from which they can choose the new junior selector,” said the source.
There were doubts about the CAC being changed, but the BCCI is set to continue with this panel till the AGM. “The SC has asked these three members to continue till the AGM. However, it’s up to the CAC members whether they want to continue. We’ve sent them an e-mail today about appointing a fresh selector. Their response to this mail will determine whether they want to continue there or not,” he said.
“At the AGM, however, those who are nominated for the CAC will have to give a declaration about conflict-of-interest,” he added.
The women’s selection committee, headed by Hemlata Kala, and comprising Shashi Gupta and Lopamudra Banerjee, will see the return of Sudha Shah and Anjali Pendharkar to the five-member panel.