Scrap CAC, apex council should appoint selectors: Vengsarkar

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali New Delhi, Dec 21 : The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) should be scrapped, and selectors should be appointed by the apex councils — both of the Indian cricket board and of its affiliates – to bring transparency to the selection of selectors while the 60-year cap for selectors is unconstitutional and it is used by administrators “to push their own people” in the selection committee, says former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar.
Vengsarkar, 64, said the new Supreme Court-approved constitution of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) mentions upper age limit as 70 years for office-bearers, and which should applied to selector, too, and not the 60-year bar, which is an “absurd rule” and “detrimental to Indian cricket”.
The master batsman, who scored three consecutive centuries against England Tests at Lord’s, London, also threw his weight behind his 1983 World Cup-winning India teammate, Kirti Azad, who had applied for a selector’s post in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) recently, but was ignored, apparently as he was over 60. Vengsarkar apparently suffered due to the same 60-year cap in 2016 and this year, when he tried to have a second stint as a national selector.
“CAC should be scrapped and selectors should be appointed by the apex councils, both of the BCCI and the state associations. After all, the selectors are appointed by the BCCI president, indirectly. So, it is better to get rid of the CAC. Apex council appointing selectors will be fairer than if the CAC appoints them; it will be 100 per cent fair because they will definitely come up with a few names and can gang up. But it will definitely be fairer,” Vengsarkar told IANS.
“The 60-year cap is not anywhere in the BCCI constitution; it is 70 years. This 60-year rule was brought in — in 2016 as well as 2020 — by the office-bearers as per their convenience, to push their own people in the selection committee. This is absolutely absurd, and which is also not good for the game of cricket. And first the foremost, the BCCI CAC should be scrapped completely,” slammed the former chairman of the selection committee.
Vengsarkar was chairman of the selection committee for two seasons (2007-08 and 2008-09), but he was removed and replaced by Krishnamachari Srikkanth, who remained chairman for next four years on the trot. In 2016, after Sandeep Patil completed four years as chairman, the 60-year cap disqualified Vengsarkar. A much younger MSK Prasad, who has played six Tests and 17 ODIs, instead became chairman.