Pardeshi named BCA chief selector in place of More

Vadodara, Oct 2 (UNI) Former Baroda Ranji player and a senior member of the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) selection panel, Dasrath Pardeshi, has replaced Kiran More as BCA chief selector.

More, who is holding the post of BCA joint secretary, recently resigned from the chairmanship of the BCA senior selection committee following allegations of favouritism against him. More, however, dubbed the allegations as ''baseless'' and claimed that even his ''Kiran More International Cricket Academy'' had nothing to do with his resignation.

According to BCA sources, the appointment of Pardeshi to the chief selector's post was made by the Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) of BCA which met here yesterday under the chairmanship of association vice-president Samarjitsinh Gaekwad.

The CIC also inducted former all-rounder Valmik Buch into the five-member selection panel which included Atul Bedade, Khagesh Amin and B S Sangpal besides chairman Pardeshi. Some of the veteran cricketers of the city speaking on condition of anonymity strongly criticised the CIC for appointing Pardeshi as chief selector on the lone criteria of age instead of taking seniority in cricketing career and experience into consideration.

They argued that while Pardeshi had played only 50 Ranji matches for Baroda before retiring from first class cricket 17 years ago, another selector Atul Bedade, who was a strong contender for the chief selector's post, was not considered for the job though he had played around 120 first class domestic matches and 14 ODIs.

When contacted, Bedade refused to make any comment on the appointment of Pardeshi to the coveted post, but rejected as ''false and baseless'' the allegation that he was running a cricket academy which had come on his way to become the chairman.

Stating that he was neither doing the job of a coach nor had got any cricket academy of his own, Bedade said, ''I'm just one of the 750 members of city-based Polo Club which runs a cricket academy. Is it a crime to train the young boys there?'' he asked. UNI SS MAZ PDS RAI1532