Selection committee eager to make their final move before their tenure ends

The timespan of Chetan Sharma’s selection committee is set to extend a few more days or maybe weeks as the Indian Cricket Board has consigned the national selectors on Ranji Trophy duty. The selection team led by the chairman Chetan Sharma along with Debasis Mohanty, Sunil Joshi and Harvinder Singh has been asked to report for the third round of the Ranji games which begin on Tuesday (27th December) at various different places. 

The clear significance of this judgement is that the limited-time panel will select the squad for the white ball series against Sri Lanka which will commence on January 3 in Mumbai. The conference of the panel is expected to take place on Tuesday itself and the statement is to be released in the next 24 hours.

The main aim of the selection committee will be on the two most senior players in the Indian squad- Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The captain’s injured thumb has forced him to stay out of the series against Bangladesh and has still not fully recovered which makes him unavailable as he needs further rest. Also, prime batter Virat Kohli has pursued a break from the T20Is. These reasons make it easier for the selectors to try out new players for the upcoming T20Is. 

It is very possible that the selectors will adhere to their experimental squad for the three-match series with Hardik Pandya taking the skipper’s role which he was also empowered within the New Zealand series after the World Championship in Australia. Also, ace all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja is also expected to make a comeback. Yash Dhull will be a potential future talent to look out for. But Kohli and Rohit are expected to be back for the ODI series, which is a crucial game keeping in mind the World Championship in India, later in the year 2023. 

As soon as the official statement was released by the Apex Council on Monday night, the selectors are expected to reach the assigned centres from Day 2 of the four days Ranji event. 

While Chairman Chetan Sharma assisted by Harvinder Singh will be in Delhi, Sunil Joshi will be in Hyderabad and Debasis Monahty will arrive in Mumbai for the Mumbai Saurashtra match. The meeting of the committee is obviously to be held online in the latter half of the day as the selectors will be in different parts of the nation.