Patil appointed chairman of selectors, Amarnath sacked

Mumbai - Former India batsman Sandeep Patil was Thursday appointed chairman of the national selection committee while Mohinder Amarnath was sacked just one year into his four-year term by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The 56-year-old Patil, currently director of National Cricket Academy (NCA), was a surprise choice to replace Krishnamachari Srikkanth as his name was not even in consideration.

Amarnath apparently lost his job over differences with Srikkanth on Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s continuance as the Test captain after the disastrous tours to England and Australia.

Amarnath, who represented north, wanted Dhoni replaced by Virender Sehwag as the Test captain. But according to reports, Srikkanth and BCCI president N. Srinivasan were in favour of Dhoni, who is also the captain of the Chennai Super Kings owned by the Srinivasan-headed India Cements.

Other selectors appointed on the panel were Roger Binny (South), Vikram Rathore (North), Saba Karim (East) and Rajinder Singh Hans (Central). Binny’s name was also doing the rounds as the chairman of the selection committee.

Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Chandrakant Pandit was also appointed as the chairman of the junior selection committee.

At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the BCCI, it was also decided to hike selectors’ annual remuneration from Rs.40 lakh to Rs.60 lakh, while for the junior selectors, it was raised from Rs.20 lakh to Rs.40 lakh.