Ever since the Lodha committee announced its reforms for the BCCI, people have multiple views on them. Some cricketers and fans have welcomed the suggestions while others have went on to criticse them. In its latest move, the committee led by RM Lodha asked the Board of Cricket Control in India which is currently being led by CEO Rahul Johari to reduce its selection committee from five to three members. The committee has also asked BCCI to make sure that all the members of the selection committee have played a Test match.
This means that current members Gagan Khoda and Jatin Paranjape will have to step down from their posts with the Irani trophy squad to be in announced in two days. This news may not please the top seat holders in BCCI and may draw some crticism as well but to be honest, this was a much-needed move and could be the best thing that has happened to Indian cricket in recent past.
For long politics has played a major role in cricket which has hurt the image of the sport in the country. The spot-fixing saga, Lalit Modi episode and IPL controversies haven’t helped the cause either. All of this combined with the horrifying time Men in Blue had in Tests outside India losing 4-0 to England (2011), 4-0 Australia (2011/12), 1-0 in South Africa (2013/14), 1-0 in New Zealand (2013/14), 2-1 in England (2014) and Australia (2014/15). However, Indian team had an excellent time in 2016 and remained undefeated throughout the year in Test cricket.
One of the major reasons behind this was the shift in important places that were occupied by experienced former Indian cricketers. VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were blooded in BCCI’s advisory committee, Anil Kumble was appointed as the head coach of the side while the India A and Under-19 teams also did incredibly well under the guidance of Rahul Dravid.
All this points towards the inclusion of more senior players in important roles including the selection pannel. Fortunately, we have moved into a phase where we do have the luxury to implement this as well. The recent crop of players who have retired includes the likes of Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Aakash Chopra, Murali Karthik etc. who have fairly decent experience to play at the highest level. BCCI can also look up to people like Pravin Amre who have been active in domestic circle for a long time now.
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I think Indian cricket is heading towards a very exciting phase and if BCCI don’t make the full use of the experience of above mentioned or any other players who fall in the same category, it will be a loss for Indian cricket.