Daily Times

The Indian cricket board (BCCI) responded to the national team’s defeat in the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia last week by sacking their senior selection committee on Friday.

India were dumped out of the tournament in Australia after a 10-wicket hammering by eventual champions England and Rohit Sharma’s side was labelled “clueless” and “out of their depth” by former players, fans and the country’s media.

Former head coach Ravi Shastri also said the team needed to appoint a new captain for the shortest format of the game. But it was the Chetan Sharma-led senior selection committee that was first to go.

“The Board of Control for Cricket in India invites applications for the position of national selectors (senior men),” the BCCI said in a statement, adding that it was looking to fill five positions.

England won the Twenty20 title after beating Pakistan in the final.

Ben Stokes and Sam Curran starred as England edged Pakistan by five wickets to win the Twenty20 World Cup and become the sport’s first dual white-ball champions, holding both the 50 and 20-over titles.

Jos Buttler’s side held Pakistan to 137-8 in front of a partisan 80,462 fans at a heaving Melbourne Cricket Ground, with player-of-the-match Curran bagging 3-12 and Adil Rashid chipping with 2-22.

In reply, England slumped to 49-3 in the sixth over as they struggled to get any momentum against a fiery pace attack, with boundaries hard to come by.

But Stokes (52 not out) and Moeen Ali (19) used their experience and cool heads to guide England to 138-5 with six balls to spare, climaxing a riveting tournament that spanned 45 games over nearly a month.

The victory added to the 50-over title England won in 2019, building on the legacy of former captain Eoin Morgan, who retired this year after transforming the team into a white-ball juggernaut.