Ex-India opener likely to replace Chetan Sharma as interim chief selector after his resignation post 'sting operation'

Chetan Sharma's resignation on Friday has left the chief selector's position for the Indian senior men's selection committee vacant. The former India pacer stepped down in just a shade over a month after he was heard leaking inside information about Team India and noted cricketers Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and others in a 'sting operation' carried out by the Zee Media. Chetan was reinstated as the chairman of selectors last month.

BCCI haven't officially announced anything related either to Chetan's resignation or his successor in the selection committee. With selection meetings lined up, it is unlikely that the BCCI will straightaway hunt for a new chairman. Instead, they might look to appoint an interim chairman from the existing panel. If they do that, former India opener Shiv Sunder Das should be the frontrunner as he has played 23 Tests, the most number among the current lot of Subroto Banerjee, Salil Ankola, and Sridharan Sharath.

As per the BCCI selection panel criteria, the selector with the most Test caps automatically becomes the chairman.

Chetan was in Kolkata watching the Ranji Trophy final between Bengal and Saurashtra but now has left for Delhi. The former right-arm pacer got into trouble after Zee Media aired a 'sting operation' in which he was heard talking about senior Indian players taking various injections to achieve 100% fitness even when they are not.

Among other matters, he also talked about the rift between former BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly and former India captain Virat Kohli. Chetan indicated that Kohli did not speak the truth when he said he wasn't consulted before being removed as the ODI captain.

Chetan Sharma also said many senior players including current T20I captain Hardik Pandya, pacer Umesh Yadav and all-rounder Deepak Hooda visit him at his residence.

The BCCI top brass and the senior players were miffed by the words spoken by the former chief selector. "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," a BCCI source told PTI.

It is understood that senior members and support staff of the Indian team had communicated their mistrust to the top BCCI officials.

Chetan was allegedly lured into the sting operation on the pretext that his inputs were required for research work for a docu-series on a popular OTT platform.