Chetan Sharma resigns from selection committee chairman’s post

PTI, Feb 17, 2023, 12:14 PM IST

Former India pace bowler Chetan Sharma has resigned from the post of chairman of the senior selection committee following a sting operation by a news channel, where he was allegedly seen revealing confidential information.

”Yes, Chetan has tendered his resignation to BCCI secretary Jay Shah and his resignation has been accepted. His position had become untenable after the sting operation. He resigned voluntarily and wasn’t asked to resign,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity on Friday.

Chetan Sharma was in Kolkata along with other selection committee members for the Ranji Trophy final between Bengal and Saurashtra. They were there to select the Irani Cup team.

During the sting operation, conducted by Zee News, Chetan was seen alleging that a lot of players take injections to expedite their return to competitive cricket despite being 80-85 per cent fit.

The former India pace bowler also alleged that there was a difference of opinion between him and the team management over pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s return from a stress fracture for the T20I series against Australia in September.

He also claimed that T20I captain Hardik Pandya, pace bowler Umesh Yadav and Deepak Hooda regularly visited him at his residence.

Chetan also spoke about the relationship between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and alleged that there was an ego tussle between Kohli and former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.

It is learnt that Chetan’s comments did not go down well with the BCCI top brass, and the current national squad members also lost their trust in him.

”Coach Rahul Dravid, captains Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya have completely lost faith in him. He couldn’t have possibly sat across the table along with them for selection committee meetings as he had lost all respect. He paid the price for being a big mouth,” said another BCCI source.

Chetan and the entire selection committee had earlier been sacked following India’s semi-final exit in the T20 World Cup in Australia. He re-applied for the post and was re-appointed as chairman.

Chetan, a handy pace bowler, who played when Kapil Dev was at the helm of Indian cricket, is India’s first hat-trick man in ODI World Cup. Chetan is best remembered for Pakistan’s Javed Miandad hitting him for a last-ball six during the 1986 Asia Cup final in Sharjah.