Court approves selection committees for Rajasthan for second consecutive year

Rajasthan set to play in the domestic season

The Jaipur bench of the Rajasthan High Court has approved the BCCI's appointment of selection committees to pick Rajasthan teams for the domestic tournaments in the upcoming 2015-16 seasons reported ESPNcricinfo.

The court approved the committees put forth by the BCCI on Friday during the hearing of a writ petition filed by some of Rajasthan's players, in which they asked for help to play the forthcoming season.

A group of nearly 60 Rajasthan cricketers, led by senior pace bowler Pankaj Singh, filed a writ petition with the Jaipur and Jodhpur benches of the Rajasthan High Court, seeking intervention in the matter.

Talking about the matter Pankaj said, "The women's matches are going to start in less than ten days' time. And there are only three weeks left before the senior team and even the Under-19 tournaments begin."

The Rajasthan pacer also said they would appeal to High Court, "So we are appealing to the court and state government so that we get the opportunity to play in the domestic season," and the appeal paid off with the High Court approving the committees.

The BCCI's decision to bar the RCA left the players' participation in the 2014 season uncertain. The matter, however, was resolved a couple of weeks before the start of the domestic season after the Rajasthan High Court in Jaipur asked BCCI-appointed selection committees, along with a co-ordinator, to run cricket-related affairs.

The committees were overseen by the Rajasthan Sports Council, and as the tenure for the committees was only the 2014-15 season, new committees had to be set up for this season. There are three selection committees set up for the seniors, juniors and women’s.

Members of the Panel

The selection committees for the 2015-16 season include national selectors. Rajinder Singh Hans is a part of the men's selection committee, while Pritam Gandhe and Hemlata Kala are part of the junior and women's committees respectively. Amrit Mathur, a former manager of the Indian team, has been appointed coordinator.

According to a BCCI official, the second petition is unlikely to create any further hurdles for the BCCI. He went on to say that the BCCI's ad-hoc panel will discharge the duties which the RCA should have fulfilled and the court has taken a "significant" decision to allow the selection panels and the coordination committee to continue until the matter was resolved.

The BCCI official also said, "At the end of last season, all activities ceased so there were no off-season camps, fitness camps. Selections tournaments were not held as the tenure of the selection committees approved by the court last year ended after the 2014-15 season. Now that is not the case. You will not have the suspense and uncertainty at the beginning of the season, which has been the case for the last two years. The players would not need to raise a cry for help," the official pointed out.

According to Mathur, the coordination committee has already begun working on the season. "We have started work straight away. We have decided to organise selection trials for the Under-19 women's team on September 14 and 15 so that they can play the domestic tournament starting soon," he said.

Mathur also said the coordination committee would have a meeting on September 14 in Jaipur to decide the plan for the men's teams, including selection trials and preparatory camps ahead of the Ranji Trophy, which starts from October 1.

In a major relief for Rajasthan players, the High Court has ordered BCCI to allow them to play in… #IPL8 #PepsiIPL pic.twitter.com/SXGYV6bRYc

— Pepsi IPL 9 (@IPLNine_) September 12, 2015

Rajasthan High Court approves BCCI's appointment of selection committees for cricket in the state. Details: http://t.co/6VYbmIIJ4E

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) September 11, 2015