The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today appointed three new members of the All-India Senior Men Selection Committee, including former Odisha and India swing bowler Debasis Mohanty. Other two new members are: Chetan Sharma (Haryana) and Abey Kuruvilla (Mumbai).

The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Madan Lal, Rudra Pratap Singh and Sulakshana Naik recommended the names of the three new members in a meeting earlier in the day. The committee further recommended Chetan Sharma for the role of Chairman of the selection committee based on seniority (total number of Test matches). The three new members will join Sunil Joshi and Harvinder Singh in the selection committee.

Sharma, a former pacer represented India in 23 Tests and 65 ODIs (88 matches overall). On the contrary, Kuruvilla played a total of 35 games (10 Tests, 25 ODIs) whereas Mohanty played 47 matches for Team India (2 Tests, 45 ODIs).

Mohanty bagged four wickets in his two Tests and 57 wickets in 45 ODIs. In first-class cricket, Mohanty captured 417 wickets in 117 matches. He also gathered 160 wickets in 129 List-A matches and nine wickets in eight T20 games.

During his illustrious playing career, Mohanty bagged 10 wickets in 1999 World Cup and all 10 wickets in a Duleep Trophy match against South Zone at Agartala in 2001. Also a Level-1 coach, Mohanty worked as the coach of the Odisha Senior Men team for multiple terms since 2011. He was the coach of the East Zone team that created history by winning their first Duleep Trophy.

Before being appointed as a Senior Men National Selector, Mohanty functioned as a member of the All-India Junior Men Selection Committee from August 2018. He also worked as a member of the BCCI Technical Committee three times.

Interestingly, before the meeting of the CAC, former Odisha and India Test opener Shiv Sundar Das was a front-runner for the post of Senior Men National Selection Committee member. Similarly, Ajit Agarkar was tauted as favourite for the post of chairman. But the CAC instead chose Chetan Sharma and Debasis Mohanty.
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PHOTO: Undated file picture of new member of All-India Senior Men Selection Committee Debasis Mohanty.