Agarkar applies for national selector's job, frontrunner for chairman's post, Prasad in running too
New Delhi, Jan 24: Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar on Friday entered the race for the national selector's job and is a frontrunner for the chairman's post.
Agarkar confirmed to PTI that he has applied for the national selector's position.
Agarkar, who is a former chairman of Mumbai senior selection committee, is in contention for the chairman's post as the new constitution doesn't have provisions for zonal system.
It can also be confirmed that former India medium pacer and junior chairman of selectors Venkatesh Prasad has once again applied for senior selector's post although he has only around one and half years of his cumulative term left.
With BCCI setting January 24 as the deadline for sending applications, the 42-year-old Agarkar is certainly the most high-profile name with 26 Tests, 191 ODIs and 3 T20 Internationals, picking 349 wickets across formats.
Agarkar remains India's third highest wicket-taker in ODIs (with 288 scalps) behind Anil Kumble (334 wickets) and Javagal Srinath (315 wickets). One of the fastest bowlers during his time, Agarkar was quickest to 50 wickets, reaching the feat in only 23 games.
"Ajit entering the fray is an interesting development. He is someone who would have put in a lot of thought before applying. If anyone thought that Siva's nomination as a chairman of selectors is a given, will now think again. It will be every interesting to see who all are short-listed," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
With West Zone's Jatin Paranjpe still having a year left, will BCCI accommodate two national selectors from Mumbai in case Agarkar manages to impress the yet to be formed Cricket Advisory Committee.
"The BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on the first day had spoken about transparency. If the intent is correct and the heart is in right place, why do we need to have zonal biases and follow the convention?" the official asked.
Apart from Agarkar and Sivaramakrishnan, the other prominent names to have applied include Nayan Mongia, Chetan Sharma, Rajesh Chauhan.
List of notable former cricketers who have applied
Ajit Agarkar (Mumbai)
Venkatesh Prasad (Karnataka)
Chetan Sharma (Haryana)
Nayan Mongia (Baroda)
Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (Tamil Nadu)
Rajesh Chauhan (Madhya Pradesh)
Amey Khurasiya (Madhya Pradesh)
Gyanendra Pandey (UP, not eligible as completed 4 years as JR selector)
Pritam Gandhe (Vidarbha, has already served term as Jr Natl selector).
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Cyclone Fengal: Pondy govt issues heavy rain alert to residents via SMS
Puducherry (PTI): Puducherry experienced heavy rains on Saturday morning prompting the union territory administration to send SMS alerts to around 12 lakh residents cautioning them to remain vigilant as cyclonic storm Fengal is expected to make landfall near here later in the day.
District Collector A Kulothungan told PTI that all necessary steps have been taken to ensure that people remained safe.
"We have evacuated people from low lying areas and shelter homes are ready to accommodate them. Arrangements were also made to supply food packets," he said adding that National Disaster Relief Force from Arakonam has arrived to engage in relief and rehabilitation works.
According to the official, cyclone Fengal was expected to cross the coast in the evening. Control rooms have been opened in the collectorate and also in the line departments.
Toll free numbers 112, 1077 and also WhatsApp number 94889 81070 have been put in place to help people facing crisis to contact for help.
Cyclone Fengal is likely to cross between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram coasts close to Puducherry, official sources said. The government has advised people to stay indoors.
The entire stretch of beach road and also several tourist spots were closed to ensure that there was no movement of the people near the sea shore.
Schools and colleges remained closed today.
