Meet India’s new Cricket Advisory Committee

The first panel, which was established in 2016 to pick India’s men’s cricket team coach with Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman being part of it, had been later replaced by the BCCI’s ad-hoc committee with Kapil Dev leading the three-member panel that also comprised Shantha Rangaswamy and Anshuman Gaekwad. However, conflict of interest controversy mired all six of them, after Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) life member Sanjeev Gupta filed case one after another, which led to the BCCI ethics officer dealing with the situation. 

From Kapil Dev to Hardik Pandya, from Stuart Binny to Ravindra Jadeja, India have been blessed with many all-rounders over the years but Madan Lal’s contributions - both on and off the field - have been severely undervalued. Be it being a useful batsman, whose stoic 74 against Pakistan in the 1983 Test of Bangalore pulled the team out of the woods, or an underrated bowler, whose three quick wickets broke the West Indies’ back in the 1983 World Cup final, Lal was at the crest of many glorious Indian cricketing moments. 

A career filled with so many high points, Lal often failed to perform in the shadows but that never deterred him from being involved with cricket despite being axed from the Indian side in 1985. He assumed the role of the India A coach before becoming the national selector but taking over the coaching role in the national team was the true blue moment for the straight-talking Punjabi. Under his stewardship in 1997, India beat Australia and South Africa at home across formats and also won the Titans Cup. But the failure to chase down 120 in the 1997 Barbados Test when Ian Bishop and Franklyn Rose broke the back of the Indian cricket team, dismissing them for 81, was a low ride.

Lal never took a break from cricket, though, contesting in the Delhi District Cricket Association election in 2018, where he lost to veteran television journalist Rajat Sharma. He has now been appointed a member of the CAC where he will be entrusted with the responsibility of picking various committees as well as coaches for the national men’s team, albeit the role of CAC in picking other squads remain unclear. 

Remember the good-looking, well-groomed and mighty effective evasive left-arm bowler, better known as MS Dhoni’s favourite pick? RP Singh’s rise was in sync with another left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan’s fall from grace, which made the former a better prospect with the ball. However, with the red-ball in hand, the Uttar Pradesh cricketer could hardly do anything apart from that ferocious spell of pace-bowling in Perth to land India a historic win. But his performance nosedived at home remarkably in the same year and if not for MS Dhoni’s public backing, he would have gone unnoticed straightaway. He was, however, a part of India's line-up for the 2007 T20 World Cup, picking 11 wickets in six games he played, with the striking feature of his bowling being the holder from one side, which helped Irfan Pathan choke up the oppositions easily from the other end. 

The promising career was derailed by inconsistency and regular influx of injuries as he soon became irrelevant in T20 cricket before finding a second wind to his career in the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League. The edition’s Purple cap winner teamed up with Chaminda Vaas, Ryan Harris and Fidel Edwards to form a formidable bowling unit for Deccan Chargers and helped the Hyderabad-based side to the title in South Africa. A T20 World Cup call-up followed but for reasons only known to the Indian team management, RP never played a single T20 game for India outside of the T20 World Cups - 2007 and 2009.

He changed his allegiance in the domestic cricket as well, turning out for Gujarat, helping them to their first domestic title in the form of Vijay Hazare Trophy. Later, he took up Hindi commentary for Star Sports, gaining praise for his straight-talking and fine analysis, but he will have to put a pause now that he has been given the responsibility in the CAC.

Sulakshana Naik

Never a prodigy but always endearingly hard-working, Naik, after her debut in 2002, fell off the radar when India announced the squad for the 2005 World Cup. The team ultimately reached the final and Naik was back in Mumbai, doing everything she could in the nets session to ensure that she made a comeback. The much-awaited national recall came when India toured Australia and New Zealand in 2006 and she later kept wickets in India’s tour of Ireland and England in the same year. After plying her trade for Railways earlier in her career, Naik later turned for her home team Mumbai and kept on playing until 2016 before calling it a day. 

As she is inducted to the set-up, she will be also responsible for picking the new women’s selection panel and the chief of the women’s selection committee apart from being a crucial member in picking the men’s one too. As the tenure of the Hemlata Kala-led committee, which also has Anjali Pendharker, Sudha Shah, Lopamudra Bhattaacharji and Shashi Gupta, comes to an end, Naik will have to pick the panel from the likes of Neetu David, Nooshin Al Khadeer, Jaya Sharma, Kalpana Venkatcher, Laya Francis, Shyama Shaw and Renu Margrate, who have reportedly applied for the role.