Chetan Sharma, the head of the senior selection committee, resigned days after a sting operation put him in the spotlight after the Board of Control for Cricket in India requested him to do so for breaching his contract by disclosing team information. Sharma, who was in Kolkata for the Ranji Trophy final, is said to have resigned on Friday morning, and the BCCI accepted it instantly.
What Sharma said in the video during the sting operation was not controversial, but he was heard saying that Indian players take injections to stay fit. Sharma also claimed that former India captain Virat Kohli attempted to slander then-BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, believing the latter was to blame for his loss of the ODI captaincy.
“He sent his letter of resignation to the BCCI secretary, and it was accepted. In his place, a new individual will now be recruited, BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla said.
Sharma had already lost the trust of both the team’s management and the BCCI. There were concerns about how players would speak candidly with Sharma after he revealed some of the discussions to the media.
According to reports, even a few members of the team management felt Sharma had crossed the line in their communication to the BCCI on Wednesday. His position became untenable after he accused a few of the players of taking injections to stay fit. “It was just a matter of time,” she says. “Once the players lost trust in Sharma, it was always going to be difficult for him to continue,” a source close to the situation said.
With Sharma’s resignation, the selection panel is now down to four members. Subroto Banerjee, Salil Ankola, S Sharath, and SS Das are the current leaders, and all four took office in January. Following the conclusion of the T20 World Cup, the BCCI decided to replace the entire selection committee and seek new applications. With few people willing to join the panel, the BCCI reverted to appointing Sharma as chairman.
