Chetan Sharma steps down as India’s chief selector

Chetan Sharma resigned as chairman of the national selection committee on Friday, following a sting operation by a television channel in which he made shocking revelations. Sportstar has learnt that Sharma, who was in Kolkata for the Ranji Trophy final until Thursday, had sent his resignation to the BCCI secretary Jay Shah, also the convenor of the national selection panel, which was later accepted. Sharma did not turn up at Eden Gardens on Friday.

According to the BCCI constitution, the chairman will be the senior most member who played for India first. Following Sharma’s departure, the BCCI may prefer Salil Ankola, who made his Test debut in 1989, or Shiv Sundar Das, who has played more Tests than the remaining selectors.

The Board is expected to make an official announcement about Sharma’s exit in due course. Even though the BCCI officials were initially divided over the possible action on Sharma, who many felt was a victim of a sting operation, they later concurred that it wouldn’t be right for him to continue.

In that sting operation, Sharma made a remark about Indian players improving their fitness by taking injections. He also discussed the ‘ego clashes’ between Virat Kohli and former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.

The team management was reportedly dissatisfied with Sharma’s revelations, believing that it would be difficult for the players to regain trust.

Sharma, the pacer with 23 Test and 65 ODI caps, had been the chief selector since he was inducted into the panel in December 2020. With him at the helm, India has had disappointing campaigns in consecutive T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022. While the other members of the previous panel had to leave their posts after the T20 World Cup semifinal exit in Australia, Sharma managed to hold on to the position for another term after the Ashok Malhotra-led Cricket Advisory Committee chose him as the selector after conducting interviews.