National selector under pressure

Bhupinder Singh's comments about Rahul Dravid haven't gone down well © Getty Images Enlarge

Bhupinder Singh Senior, the national selector from the North Zone, could have got himself into trouble over comments on Rahul Dravid that appeared in Mid Day, a Mumbai tabloid. Bhupinder was quoted as saying that Dravid's "mind was not on the game" in the last Test against South Africa. Bhupinder has not, so far, denied making these comments, and it is understood that officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India are unimpressed by his actions.

Although they will not directly take action against Bhupinder just yet Cricinfo has learned that the BCCI will be writing to him on Wednesday seeking an explanation. They will also, in the same letter, be reminding him that it is not in his place to be making comments about individual players in the Indian team.

Traditionally, it is only the chairman of selectors who fronts the media and that too largely only in press conferences immediately following the announcement of a team. Even in these cases it is rare for the selector to speak up so stridently against a player, especially the captain.

Moreover, the five national selectors are governed by a code of conduct that strongly dissuades them from talking to the press and giving interviews of this nature. In fact, it was only recently that the practice of the chairman of the selection committee addressing the media was re-instated.

Approximately three years ago, when Chandu Borde was chairman of the national selection committee, this practice was stopped, after he received a particularly fearful grilling from the press over a specific selection. From then on the secretary of the board, who also acted as the convenor for selection meetings, merely announced the squad, with no explanation from the selectors over decisions taken. The practice was resumed when Kiran More took over as chairman of the selection committee, immediately preceding the previous one.