Indian cricket: Neetu David named chief as BCCI appoint new women’s national selection panel

The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Saturday announced the appointment of All-India Women’s Selection Committee.

Neetu David, one of India’s finest woman cricketers in the late ‘90s and early 2000, has been named as the chief of BCCI’s women’s national selection panel.

Also part of the Committee are Arati Vaidya, Renu Margrate, Venkatacher Kalpana and Mithu Mukherjee.

The new All-India Women’s Selection Committee

1) Neetu David (10 Tests and 97 WODIs)
2) Arati Vaidya (3 Tests and 6 WODIs)
3) Renu Margrate (5 Tests and 23 WODIs)
4) Venkatacher Kalpana (3 Tests and 8 WODIs)
5) Mithu Mukherjee (4 Tests)

The four-year term of the previous panel, led by Hemlata Kala, ended in March 2020. It had Sudha Shah, Anjali Pendharkar, Shashi Gupta and Lopamudra Banerjee as other members.

Their last assignment was selecting the team for the women’s World T20 in Australia, where India ended runners-up.

The BCCI didn’t name a new selection panel, inviting criticism from a lot of quarters, but the rationale behind the delay was the absence of any cricketing activity due to the Covid-19 related lockdown.

David, a left-arm spinner, was India’s highest wicket-taker in women’s ODIs before Jhulan Goswami surpassed her. She took 141 wickets in 97 games.

Her figures of 8/53 are the best by an Indian woman in Test matches. David played 10 Tests in which she had 41 wickets. She retired from international cricket in 2008.

Former Maharashtra left-handed batter Arati Vaidya, who played 3 Tests and 6 ODIs between mid to late ‘90s, is from the West Zone.

From the East Zone, Mithu Mukherjee makes it to the panel. She was part of the previous panel and didn’t complete her full term. She still has at least two years left in her tenure.

From the Central Zone, Renu Margrate is a medium pacer, who played for India in five Tests and 23 ODIs in the late ‘90s. The 45 year-old Margaret represented Indian Railways in the national tournaments.

The fifth candidate in the panel is 59-year-old Venkatacher Kalpana, who played three Test and 8 ODIs between 1986 and 1991 as a wicketkeeper-batter.

(With inputs from PTI)