Sandeep Patil is chairman of selectors; Amarnath sacked

Former India batsman Sandeep Patil was appointed chairman of the national selection committee on Thursday, while Mohinder Amarnath was sacked after serving just a year on the panel.

The 56-year-old Patil's appointment to the hot seat, replacing Krishnamachari Srikkanth, came as a surprise, as his name was not even talked about as a possible candidate prior to the Board's Annual General Meeting, which finalised the panel, in Mumbai.

Roger Binny (South), Vikram Rathore (North), Saba Karim (East) and Rajinder Singh Hans (Central) comprise the rest of the new panel, which had no place for former India batsman Mohinder Amarnath.

Chandrakant Pandit, a wicketkeeper-batsman who played for India between 1986 and 1992, was named chairman of the junior selection committee.

The AGM also decided to raise the selectors' annual remuneration from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 60 lakh, while for the junior selectors, it was raised from Rs 20 lakh to 40 lakh.

The appointment of the panels put an end to intense speculation on who would succeed Srikkanth and the other selectors who completed their tenure of four years.

While Binny's name was doing the rounds as the next chairman, it was Patil, currently the National Cricket Academy director, who was given the responsibility.

There were a number of contenders from East Zone, like Debang Gandhi, Deep Dasgupta, Debashish Mohanty and Arup Bhattacharya, but it was former India wicketkeeper-batsman Saba Karim, who surprisingly got the nod.

Former India pacer Abey Kuruvilla was talked about as a strong contender from West Zone but could not make it with Patil being preferred for the post.

Patil, a dashing batsman in his prime, played 29 Tests and 45 ODIs for India, scoring 1588 and 1005 runs in the respective formats. Post-retirement, he was India 'A' coach before being at the helm of the senior team.

He later served as coach of the Kenyan national team as well.

Patil, in fact, ended up rubbing BCCI the wrong way when he served as one of the coaches in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League. He cut ties with the rebel league in 2009.

Binny played for India from 1979 to 1987. In his eight-year career, the all-rounder bagged 47 wickets in 27 Tests and 77 wickets in 72 ODIs. He was India's highest wicket-taker during the 1983 World Cup. The 57-year-old played for two states -- Goa and Karnataka -- in domestic circuit.

The BCCI's previous selection panel comprised Srikkanth, Amarnath, Narendra Hirwani (Central Zone), Surendra Bhave (West Zone) and Raja Venkat (East Zone). Amarnath had replaced Yashpal Sharma last year.

Unwilling to spell out the reason for Amarnath's ouster, BCCI president N Srinivasan it cannot be discussed in public and that the Board members wanted a new-look committee.

"The term of the selectors is for a maximum of four years but they have to be elected annually. It's the decision of the BCCI. One cannot go into the reasons (for not reappointing Amarnath). It's not a subject for public debate," Srinivasan told a press conference after the AGM.

"But the fact is I think BCCI wanted, if possible, a new-look selection committee and that's what we have. The issue is not what is the credential of a X or Y. Basically, it's a one-year term extended up to a maximum of four years.

"It's not a fixed four-year term. The selectors are elected annually. But they can be there for a maximum of four terms. The selection committee is appointed by the Board and there is a process of consultation.

"The process has been going on for quite some time and not just today morning. It's only that the final list was published today. There has been extensive consultation among Board members for some time. The office-bearers are in touch with all the constituents). There are only 30 members in the Board," Srinivasan explained.

While Binny's did the rounds as the next chairman, it was Patil, currently the National Cricket Academy director, who was given the responsibility. The new man to replace Patil will be decided later, Srinivasan said.

There is speculation that former stumper Kiran More, who rejoined the BCCI from the ICL fold, will be given the job.

In another significant change, former skipper Anil Kumble replaced his predecessor Sourav Ganguly as the head of the BCCI's technical committee.

Srinivasan said the BCCI has adopted the anti-corruption code and it will be circulated to all its associations.

"Board made a surplus of over Rs 382 crore in the last fiscal as compared to Rs 192 crore the previous year and the gross revenue was Rs 849 crore, as compared to Rs 581 crore the previous year.

"During the year, the Board spent Rs 160 crore for infrastructure development (subsidy) as compared to Rs 130 crore the previous year."

He also said the IPL Governing Council remained unchanged, with Rajiv Shukla at the helm, Arun Jaitley, Anirudhh Chawdhury, Gangaraju, Sanjay Patel, Ravi Shastri and M P Pandove the other members.

"Ranjib Biswal (Orissa) will be the chairman of the NCA," Srinivasan added.