5 great international cricketers who went on to become selectors

Whenever a team does well in any series (bilateral or a multi-team event), the players are lauded for their efforts, the coach and the support staff also are given credit for the team’s performance.

But there is one team (or committee) that usually doesn’t get noticed and that team is the committee of selectors.

The selectors pick the team for each series and never get noticed when the team does. Hence, here we look at five great international cricketers who became selectors for their countries.

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#5 Lala Amarnath

The first Indian to score a Test hundred, Lala Amarnath was the chairman of selectors in 1959 when Australia toured India for a five-match Test series. Although India lost that series, it was a hard-fought one which Australia won 2-1.

The Punjab-born player had retired in 1952 and became the selector in 1959. He did lose his prime cricketing years due to the Second World War as he played just three Tests till 1934. But Amarnath did play 21 Tests later on, but he didn’t quite have a big impact.

One interesting stat that Amarnath holds is that he is the only bowler to have dismissed Sir Don Bradman hit wicket.

Overall, he has taken 45 wickets in his Test career. He has also scored 878 runs in 40 innings at an average 24.38.

These stats might not be impressive but he was considered a father figure in Indian cricket history.

#4 Sir Richard Hadlee

Not a lot of people know that Sir Richard Hadlee was a selector for New Zealand.

Sir Richard Hadlee was probably the greatest all-rounder to have played for New Zealand. The way he carried the Blackcaps bowling attack for about 17-18 years was absolutely phenomenal.

He took 431 wickets in 86 Test matches at an average of 22.29. Not only with the ball, he also amassed 3124 runs in his Test career.

He was also the first player to complete the double of scoring 1000 runs and taking 100 wickets in ODI history.

Hadlee also had a stint as chairman of national selection panel in 2003-04. The likes of Brendon McCullum and Kyle Mills made their debuts during this phase.

#3 Kris Srikanth

India reached No. 1 in Test cricket and ODIs when Srikanth was the chairman of selectors.

An engineer by profession, Krishnamachari Srikanth top-scored (with 38) in the 1983 World Cup final.

He was a naturally attacking opener who maintained a strike-rate more than 75 even in Test cricket. He formed a superb opening pair with the great Sunil Gavaskar.

The Tamil Nadu opener played international cricket for close to 11 years and represented India in 43 Test matches and 146 ODIs. He scored more than 6000 runs at the international arena and also struck six hundreds.

In September 2008, Srikanth was appointed as the chief selector of the Indian team. He replaced Dilip Vengsarkar and was at the helm for four years.

The likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Virat Kohli blossomed when Srikanth was at the helm. India also won the World Cup in 2011 when the former opener was the chairman of selectors. Also, his group of selectors were the first ever paid selection panel in India.

#2 Dilip Vengsarkar

Dilip Vengsarkar was the chairman of selectors only for 2 years.

Vengsarkar was one of the most elegant players of his era. He bailed India out of trouble on numerous occasions, especially in Test cricket.

The Maharashtra batsman has scored 6868 runs in 116 games in Test cricket at an average of 41.37. He also struck 17 Test hundreds.

In 2002, Vengsarkar was made the Chairman of the Talent Resource Development Wing (TRDW).

But in March 2006, he was named the chairman of selectors of the national team. India did miserably in the 2007 World Cup, but he continued at the helm.

India won the inaugural T20 World Cup when Vengsarkar was the chairman of selectors and also won their first-ever tri-series in Australia (in 2008).

Just before that series, Vengsarkar took a few bold calls when he dropped senior players from the ODI team. His term came to an end in September 2008.

#1 Sanath Jayasuriya

Jayasuriya served two terms as chairman of selectors.

Sanath Jayasuriya was one of the batsmen who redefined the art of batting in the powerplay. He used to take the attack to the opposition and put the bowlers under a lot of pressure. The opener combined his attacking batting with more than useful left-arm spin.

Jayasuriya played 110 Tests and scored almost 7000 runs at an average of 40.07.

In ODIs, he played 445 games and amassed 13430 runs and also struck 42 international tons (28 ODI tons and 14 Test tons).

Jayasuriya had two stints as the chairman of selectors. First, he was appointed as the head of the selectors in January 2013 which last for a couple of years.

During this period, Sri Lanka reached the semi-final of the Champions Trophy in 2013, won the Asia Cup in 2014 and won the 2014 World T20.

However, after Sri Lanka were whitewashed against India in 2014 (5-0 in ODIs) and a World Cup failure, Jayasuriya quit the job.

But after the 2016 World T20, he was at the helm again. But this time, Sri Lanka were going through a transition as the stalwarts (like Sangakkara and Jayawardene) had retired. He remained chairman of selectors until September 2017.