Khoda, Paranjape out of India's selection panel

Jatin Paranjape and Gagan Khoda will be removed from the men's selection committee, which will be trimmed to three going forward. That is because the Lodha Committee has told the BCCI to adopt its recommendation on the selection committee, which was approved by the Supreme Court of India on July 18 last year.

The next big assignment for the senior men's selection panel will be to pick the squad for the one-off Test against Bangladesh, which is scheduled from February 8 to 12.

The BCCI used to pick five-men selection panels through a zonal process, but the Lodha Committee recommended the panel be trimmed to three selectors, all of whom would be Test players retired for at least five years. Paranjape, the former Mumbai batsman, and Khoda, who led Rajasthan, will be removed from the existing selection committee considering neither has played Test cricket.

On Friday, both Paranjape and Khoda were present at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai along with selection panel chairman MSK Prasad, Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh to pick India's limited-overs squads for the England series. Before that meeting started, BCCI CEO Rahul Johri wrote to the Lodha Committee on January 4 to check whether the existing five-man selection panel could pick up the squad for the England series.

In response, Lodha Committee secretary Gopal Sankaranarayanan told Johri that the five-man panel could pick the squad but this was being permitted only as "an exception". The Lodha Committee also told Johri that he could continue as convenor of the selectors until the BCCI holds elections to elect new office bearers in keeping with the committee's recommentations. "Going forward, it will have to be strictly in terms of the Supreme Court judgement," Sankaranarayanan told Johri. Johri then informed both Paranjape and Khoda about the development.

At its last AGM in September 2016, the BCCI had defied the court order and picked a five-man selection committee through an interview process. It also modified the eligibility criteria, allowing Paranjape and Khoda to sit on the panel.