'Not for me' - Aakash Chopra in no mood to audition for India's national selector's role

Aakash Chopra came up with a witty reply to a fan’s suggestion of applying for the post of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selector after the national cricket board sacked the Chetan Sharma-led selection committee with immediate effect on Friday, November 18.

The BCCI has invited application for the national selectors post for the senior men’s cricket team and the candidates must submit their applications by November 28 which happens to be the last day for the application procedure.

It will be an honour to get this responsibility someday. But not right now. Not for me: Aakash Chopra

One of the netizens took to Twitter and tagged Aakash Chopra by asking him to apply for the selectors’ position. The fan then heaped praise on Chopra’s ability to give great insights about the game on his official YouTube channel #AkashVani and added that the cricketer-turned-commentator can implement these points while selecting a team.

The broadcaster was so overwhelmed when this tweet came to his notice. He acknowledged the fan and wrote, "It will be an honour to get this responsibility someday. But not right now. Not for me."

The BCCI’s decision to revamp the selection committee comes after the Indian team’s semi-final exit from the recently-concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. While India did finish as the table-toppers of Group 2 in the Super 12 stage, a humiliating ten-wicket defeat in the semis against the eventual champions England halted their progress in the tournament.

Earlier, the BCCI secretary Jay Shah had made it clear that the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) would be providing a feedback to the BCCI on the selection committee’s performances.

When former pacer Abey Kuruvilla’s term as the national selector ended earlier, he was not given an extension which indicated that the cricket board might not retain the Chetan Sharma-led selection committee either.

Apart from failing to go all the way in this year’s T20 World Cup, the Indian team could not do anything exceptional in major ICC or multi-nation tournaments recently either.

India lost the ICC World Test Championship final to New Zealand in June last year. They crashed out of the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup in the UAE. The Men in Blue also failed to make the finals of this year’s Asia Cup as they bowed out of Super 4 following losses against arch-rivals Pakistan and the eventual champions Sri Lanka.

The Rohit Sharma-led side did beat Afghanistan in their final game during the Asia Cup, but the consolation win was not enough to prolong their tournament hopes.