Mumbai: Former India player Pragyan Ojha was on Monday named chairman of the men’s selection committee, making him the first cricketer from Odisha to occupy that chair.
The Bhubaneswar-born Ojha, who played domestic cricket for Hyderabad, succeeds Ajit Agakar whose term expired earlier this month.
Former India all-rounder Ramesh Powar was included in the five-man selection as Agarkar’s replacement.
The 40-year-old Ojha was among the frontrunners for the post on the basis of seniority in terms of Test appearances. There was talk of Parthiv Patel being offered the chairmanship of selection committee, but the ex-India wicketkeeper-batter did not apply for the job reportedly because it offered lesser remuneration than his combined earnings from his IPL coaching role with Gujarat Titans and TV commentary assignments.
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer had applied for the vacant selector’s position, according to an India Today report. Jaffer’s Test appearances (31) were higher than that of Ojha’s (24), but the former didn’t find favour and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) settled for Ojha.
Ojha captured 113 wickets in 24 Test matches. He also played 18 ODIs (21 wickets) and 6 T20Is (10 wickets).
Besides Ojha and Powar, the selection panel comprises Odisha’s Shiv Sundar Das, RP Singh and Ajay Ratra.