The senior selection committee meeting that was slated to be held on Friday to pick India squads for the full tour of West Indies will be held later; India Today can confirm. India will play 3 T20Is, as many ODIs and Tests against the West Indies in the United States and West Indies between August 3 and September 3. The selection committee, headed by MSK Prasad, was scheduled to meet in Mumbai on Friday, but the meeting will now be held on either Saturday or Sunday. The fitness reports of players, which will be reportedly available only on Saturday morning, are among the primary reasons for the delay in the selection meeting.
The BCCI’s cricket operations team needs to appraise the chairman of the availability of the captain for the meeting. The fitness reports of the players will be available on Saturday evening,” a senior BCCI functionary told PTI. All eyes are on the upcoming squad announcement, considering several talking points that have emerged after India’s World Cup 2019 exit after a defeat to New Zealand in the semi-final in Manchester.
While reports suggested that Virat Kohli would be rested for India’s tour of the West Indies, India Today confirmed that the India captain would travel to the West Indies for both the limited-overs series and the Test matches. Kohli had arrived in India from London along with their wife and Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma on Thursday. Kohli is acutely disappointed with India’s semi-final defeat in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, and it is understood he wants to start the process of turning things around for the team from the tour of the West Indies.
Therefore, Kohli has informed the selectors he will travel to West Indies for the shorter formats matches and the Test matches. All eyes will be on MS Dhoni’s selection as speculations are rife that the senior wicketkeeper-batsman will not travel to the West Indies with the India team. The selection committee is waiting for clarity on Dhoni’s future in international cricket, even as several former cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar, stress that Dhoni should be able to take a call on his own.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators has confirmed that the senior selection committee meeting will be convened by the chief selector and not by the BCCI secretary. For overseas tours, the meetings will be convened by the administrative manager, started a fresh set of directives from the CoA. The Committee of Administrators has been informed that the practice of the Hon. Secretary convening and attending selection committee meetings has continued even after the New BCCI Constitution has become effective,” the CoA stated, as quoted by PTI.
Further, it is learned that the selection committees continue to address emails to Hon. Secretary to seek his approval for any change or replacement in the team(s). Similarly, the selection committees continue to address e-mails to the Hon. Secretary seeking his approval on travel arrangements and posting for selectors to watch and attend cricket matches,” it wrote.
