Highest capped Odisha Test opener Shiv Sundar Das was appointed as a member of Senior Men National Selection Committee by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today. He became the second National selector from Odisha after former India swing bowler Debasis Mohanty.

Former international pacer Chetan Sharma will head the five-member of the committee, the other three members of which are Subroto Banerjee, Salil Ankola and S Sharath. Sharma, in fact, has been reappointed as the chairman Senior National Selection Commmittee, while the other four have joined reconstituted panel as new members.

Interestingly, Das has been chosen from Central Zone, Benerjee has been picked from East Zone. Ankola and Sharath have been included in the National panel as representatives of West Zone and South Zone respectively.

According to a statement issued by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), headed by former India cricketer Ashok Malhotra, shortlisted 11 individuals for personal interviews from the 600 candidates who had applied for the role. The CAC submitted its recommendations after conducting the interviews on January 2.

Sharma, with 23 Test and 65 ODI caps, has been the chief selector since he was inducted into the panel in December 2020. Das, who featured in 23 Tests and four ODIs, played a majority of his 20 seasons in domestic cricket from his home team Odisha in East Zone. Howeveer, he was considered from the Central Zone for having represented Vidarbha in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Since retiring from cricket, Das has coached Odisha, India A and India Women. He was the Punjab batting coach before his appointment as selector. Ankola (one Test and 20 ODIs) has been chief selector of Mumbai since 2020-21, while Banerjee (one Test and six ODIs) - besides his various coaching assignments - has been the bowling coach of Arjun Tendulkar, son of Sachin Tendulkar.

Tamil Nadu stalwart Sharath, with 139 First-Class appearances, is the only uncapped member of the committee. The left-handed batter has been promoted from his role as the chief of the Junior Men National Selection Committee.