Srikkanth appointed chief selector, Yashpal makes a comeback

Mumbai, Sep 27 (IANS) Former India captain Krish Srikkanth has replaced Dilip Vengsarkar as the chairman of the senior selection committee, the Indian cricket board announced after its Annual General Meeting here Saturday.

Srikkanth, who was member of 1983 World Cup winning squad, will be joined by another World-Cup-winning stalwart Yashpal Sharma, for whom it will be a second stint as a selector from the North Zone. Sharma was unceremoniously removed from the selection committee when Sharad Pawar came to power three years ago.

Former India leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani is the selector from the Central Zone, and Raja Venkat, a Bengal batsman who narrowly missed playing for India, is the East Zone man. Pune's Surendra Bhave, a prolific scorer for Maharshtra, is the representative from the West. Bhave, too, failed to play for India, but he had turned out for India A in the 1990s.

The selectors will now be paid Rs.2.5 million a year as compensation for forgoing their other sources of revenue like television appearances or writing newspaper columns.

The names of the selectors were finalised at an informal meeting of the board members Friday afternoon but the formal announcement was made Saturday.

Former India fast bowler Abey Kuruvilla was named the chairman of the junior selection committee.

Senior selection committee: K. Srikkanth (chairman, South), Yashpal Sharma (North), Raja Venkat (East), Surendra Bhave (West), Narendra Hirwani (Central), N. Srinivasan (convenor).

Junior selection committee: Abey Kuruvilla (chairman, West), Sanjeev Sharma (North), Sanjay Desai (South), Rajesh Borah (East), Rajinder Singh Hans (Central), Sanjay Jagdale (convenor).