Farokh Engineer. (Source: File Photo) Farokh Engineer. (Source: File Photo)

Former India wicket-keeper Farokh Engineer lambasted the current Indian selection committee, claiming that the MSK Prasad-led panel is “a Mickey Mouse selection committee” who were apparently busy tending to Anushka Sharma’s needs during the World Cup.

“All they were doing was getting Anushka Sharma cups of tea,” Engineer told The Times of India, when he was in Pune to visit former India cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar’s cricket academy.

“How are the selectors even qualified? Between them, have they played about ten or twelve Test matches. I didn’t even know one of the selectors during the World Cup and I asked him ‘who the hell he was’, because he was wearing the India blazer and he said he was one of the selectors,” said the 81-year-old.

The current Indian selection committee is headed by MSK Prasad (6 Tests, 17 ODIs) while former India cricketers Devang Gandhi (4 Tests, 3 ODIs), Sarandeep Singh (3 Tests, 5 ODIs), Jatin Paranjpe (4 ODIs), and Gagan Khoda (2 ODIs) are the other four members.

The former wicketkeeper who represented India in 46 Tests and 5 ODIs between 1961 and 1976, also took a dig at Committee of Administrators (CoA), whose 33-month reign reign came to end with Sourav Ganguly’s appointment as the new BCCI president. The former Indian cricket said they were a “complete waste of time” and that they were “on a honeymoon” which is now over.

Former Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi had also told The Indian Express that he believed the selectors need to have more playing experience

“I have had a word with the present selection committee and the previous one as well. I asked them how do you select a side? Are you looking at the score book only? What other factors are you taking into consideration?” he had said.

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