"There is no intrigue, but a lot of interest (from former cricketers) as it has become a paid job. There is interest from many cricketers. We try to pick as good a selection commitee as we could," said Srinivasan after the BCCI appointed a new-look senior selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil here at its 83rd AGM.
Former batsman Patil represents West Zone in the panel that also includes another 1983 World Cup winning team member Roger Binny (South), Syed Saba Karim (East), Vikram Rathore (North) and Rajinder Singh Hans (Central).
There was intense speculation in the media with so many names doing the rounds before the BCCI sprang a major surprise by nominating the 56-year-old Patil to replace Krishnamachari Srikkanth as chairman of the new panel.
Patil's name was not forwarded by his parent association MCA, whose choice was Abey Kuruvilla, but it has now become the Board's prerogative after getting feedbacks from the zonal representatives to nominate the paid selection panels.
According to sources in West Zone, the name of Karsan Ghavri too was forwarded by a few associations, before Patil was nominated from the Zone.
Likewise, quite a few other former cricketers were touted as candidates from some other zones before the Board zeroed in on its choice.
The senior panel selectors' annual take home packet was also raised from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 60 lakh while that of the junior panel, to be headed by former India stumper Chandrakant Pandit, was doubled to Rs 40 lakh.