The apex board for the sport gave people 3 days to respond, setting the deadline at 5pm on the 14th of September. Less than a week later, they have already interviewed their first batch of applicants.
The interviews took place on the 19th of September in New Delhi, a mere 5 days after the conclusion of the window to send in applications. Reports have since emerged that they received a total of 70 applications for the 15 posts across the 3 broad heads.
The BCCI wasted no time in getting the interviews underway as a total of 20 people from the North, Central and East Zones took part in a interview conducted by Anurag Thakur and BCCI’s CEO Rahul Johri.
These interviews were conducted against a backdrop of confusion in the city about the interviews. Perhaps the board has been too hasty in getting the process underway, as they expected one applicant to appear in Delhi on a two and a half hour notice, even though he lives in Bombay.
Another applicant took the pains to go to the BCCI office to enquire about the location of the interview, having not been informed of the same. The former is said to be an ex-India spinner while the latter is a seamer from Himachal Pradesh.
While the BCCI have indeed angered a number of applicants, they also continued to walk a thin rope with the Lodha Committee. The Lodha Committee has been tasked with ‘cleaning up’ corruption and other fallacies that have troubled the sport in the country and ensuring transparency in its functioning.
Thus far, the committee has had a tough time in ensuring the board takes their reccommdations seriously. Anurag Thakur has remained resolute at the top, stating that the BCCI already takes a number of steps to ensure transparency and the committee cannot uproot the existing structure.
He states that there is a certain process for everything and all recommendations must follow the processes that are prevalent already.
When the BCCI invited applicants for the posts of national selectors, they laid out various conditions that for a candidate to be deemed eligible. While they did try to ensure that only the best people for the job send in their applicants, they did not follow the Lodha Committee’s guidelines for the same.
While the BCCI invites applications from cricketers who have played 50 first-class games for senior selectors, the committee explicitly states that the person must have played international cricket.
Further, for junior selectors, while the committee stated that a person who has played 25 first-class matches should be eligible, BCCI have gone one step further and said the person must have played atleast 50 first-class games.
The Commitee stated that the selection committees should comprise of 3 members, the BCCI have decided to go for 5 member boards.
The only time that BCCI have strictly followed the committee’s guidelines is over the fact that a player must have retired from all forms of cricket for 5 years prior to the date of his application.
The Lodha Commitee must be keeping a keen eye on BCCI’s activities and must be wondering whether it has any effect on the body whatsoever. Anurag Thakur appears to be a man with no fear, a clear vision and will do what he thinks is best for the body. Or for the time-being, what he wishes to do.
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