Ex-India pacer Praveen Kumar applies for BCCI senior men's selection panel: Sources

New Delhi, Sep 5 With the September 10 deadline approaching in applying for two vacancies in the Ajit Agarkar-led senior men’s selection committee, former India fast bowler Praveen Kumar has applied for a place on the five-member panel.

In the current selection committee, former India pacer Subroto Banerjee is representing the Central Zone. Sources told IANS on Friday that Praveen, who played six Tests, 68 ODIs and 10 T20Is for India and picked up 112 wickets from 2007 to 2012, has sent in his application to be a national selector.

Since last year, Praveen has been serving as the chief selector of the Uttar Pradesh senior men’s team. “Yes, it is confirmed that Praveen Kumar has applied for being the next national selector from the Central Zone. Now it will be fascinating to see who all put their hand up, with the deadline now just five days away,” further said the sources.

As per the description put out by the BCCI, the new applicants for the senior men’s selection committee must have been retired from playing cricket at least five years ago. The ideal applicant should have played a minimum of seven Tests or 30 first-class matches, or ten ODIs and 20 first-class matches.

Additionally, the applicants shouldn't have been part of any BCCI Cricket Committee for five years. Apart from Agarkar, SS Das and Ajay Ratra are the other members of the senior men’s selection committee. Sources have also told IANS that former India left-arm fast bowler RP Singh was also in the fray to apply for being a national selector, but it is understood that he hasn’t applied yet.

“With the deadline coming close now, you never know if he may give it a go,” added the sources. Singh played 82 matches across all formats for India from 2005 to 2011 and picked 124 wickets overall, and was a member of the MS Dhoni-led side winning the inaugural men's T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007.

Singh also served as a member of the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) from 2020 to 2022, before leaving it to be a talent scout for the Mumbai Indians. He has also been a regular figure in Hindi cricket commentary panels for India's games and the IPL.

IANS further understands that Pragyan Ojha, the former India left-arm spinner, has applied for being a national selector from the South Zone. Ojha played 24 Tests, 18 ODIs, and six T20Is for India from 2008 to 2013 and took 144 wickets at the international level.

As of now, S Sharath has been the South Zone representative since January 2023, a panel he was promoted to after serving as the junior selection committee chairman from September 2021.

The BCCI has also opened applications for filling four vacancies in the women’s national selection committee and one spot in the junior men’s selection committee, and the last date of applying for them is also September 10.

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