Chetan Sharma resigns as BCCI chief selector

Chetan Sharma has resigned as chief selector of the BCCI. The development comes just days after a sting operation featuring him went viral. According to ANI, Sharma sent his resignation to BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who has accepted it.

On Tuesday (February 14), Zee News released a video of a sting operation conducted on Chetan in which the former Indian pacer made some shocking claims. He alleged that ex-India captain Virat Kohli had an ego clash with former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.

Referring to Kohli’s controversial press conference ahead of the 2020-21 South Africa tour, he even labelled Kohli a 'liar.' Hitting out at the star player over his allegations that neither BCCI nor Ganguly had communicated with him over his captaincy, Sharma was heard saying in the video:

“Why did Virat say? He was going to South Africa as a captain. The press conference is about the team. There was no need to bring this topic there. The truth was that there was talk. Eight to nine people were sitting, and talk was happening. Ganguly had said (spoken to Kohli). Virat was lying. But why Virat lied, nobody knows till today. This is his personal matter. There was controversy in it - board versus player.”

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Sharma further alleged that Kohli had a go at Ganguly during the explosive press conference, as he felt that he lost the captaincy because of the then BCCI chief.

In the sting video, the former player also claimed that some Team India players took injections to pass their fitness test before international games. He was heard saying:

“The players are not fit, but they take injections to play. They are ready to play even at 80 per cent fitness. They take injections and start playing. Even if they are around 85 percent fit, they will say 'Sir let us play' but they are not cleared by the medical team, that is where the problem lies. The players always want to play; they never refuse to play."

He continued:

"Bumrah could not even bend, so what can he do? 1-2 such major injuries happen. Otherwise even at 80 percent (fitness) they are so naughty that they quietly sneak into a corner and take the injection and say 'Sir we are fit'.”

Sharma also claimed in the video that Hardik Pandya would take over as captain in the long run and that Rohit Sharma would no longer be a part of the T20I setup.

Who is Chetan Sharma?

Sharma is a former India all-rounder who represented the country in 23 Tests and 65 ODIs between 1983 and 1994. He claimed 61 wickets in Tests and 67 in ODIs. He scored a half-century in Tests and a century in ODIs.