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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Bengaluru: Four arrested for housebreaking, threats, extortion; fake PSI among accused
Bengaluru: Vidyaranyapura police have arrested four persons, including a man posing as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), for allegedly breaking into a house, threatening the occupants, and extorting money while wearing police uniforms.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mallikarjuna, Pramod, Vinay, and Hrithik.
Police said the accused had hatched a plan to pose as police personnel, conduct fake raids, and extort money from residents by intimidation.
ALSO READ: Bantwal police arrest two men for illegal sale of narcotics, seize two vehicles, 810 gm ganja
According to the police, Mallikarjuna had failed the PSI examination twice and later falsely projected himself as a PSI. He allegedly conducted photo shoots in his hometown, Siraguppa, wearing a police uniform, baton, cap, and shoes, claiming to be serving as a PSI in Bengaluru.
On December 7, the four accused allegedly went to the house of Naveen in the Vidyaranyapura limits, threatened him with a stick and an iron rod, and claimed they had information that he was selling ganja. Under the pretext of searching, they allegedly extorted ₹87,000 through bank transfer, ₹53,000 in cash kept in the house, and ₹2,000 from his wallet.
Following Naveen’s complaint, Vidyaranyapura police registered a case and launched an operation, leading to the arrest of all four accused. Police have seized ₹45,000 in cash and the car used to commit the crime.
Further investigation is underway.
