New selection committee will pick side for South Africa series, Gautam Gambhir not in CAC: Sourav Ganguly

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has informed that the revamped selection committee, with a new chairman at the helm of affairs, will be in charge of picking the Indian squad for the three ODIs against South Africa at home in March.

It has been already been reported that Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Ajit Agarkar, Rajesh Chauhan, and Venkatesh Prasad are some of the main contenders to replace the outgoing chairman MSK Prasad (South zone) and Gagan Khoda (Central zone) in the five-member panel.

Here's what Ganguly had to say on the issue:

“The Test squad for New Zealand has already been picked by the old committee and new committee’s first meeting will be held before home ODI series against South Africa. The interviews for short-listed candidates will happen soon.”

Ganguly also said that former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir will not be a part of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) as he is a Member of Parliament and hence cannot hold any position in the BCCI.

“We have decided on Gautam’s replacement and the announcement will be made soon. Madan Lal and Sulakshana are there,” he added.

The BCCI president also stated that Hardik Pandya had not attained complete fitness yet and would require some time to do so, saying:

“He can’t play right now. It will take some time before he gets fit."