Sharath S National Selector

A well deserved elevation to the top 

With his enormous knowledge of domestic cricket, TN 'ATG' S Sharath has all the credentials to make a significant contribution to Indian Cricket as a National Selector

Prolific TN middle order batsman from the 1990s S Sharath( https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/12/sharath-s-tn-crickets-atg.html?m=1) has been named as a national selector. This elevation comes on the back of his strong performance as the Chief of India U19 selectors. During his reign, India had won the U19 World Cup.

In 2007, soon after ‘ATG’ Sharath retired from first class cricket, legendary opener SM Gavaskar sent him a hand written letter comparing him with two other greats of Indian Domestic cricket, Shivalkar and Goel, both of whom performed extraordinarily in first class cricket but did not get to play for India. In that personalised letter Gavaskar wrote about his great skills, his competitive spirit and how he showcased to other cricketers on combating tough situations and said that he was just as great as those two domestic legends.

Unfortunately many of the media reports in the last week have referred to Sharath as being the only non-international in the five member national selection committee almost undermining his credibility. Two other members in the panel Salil Ankola and Subroto Banerjee played just the one test match each and around 50 first class matches, while Sharath played close to 140 first class matches, scored well over 20 centuries many of them resulting in wins for his team. Over the last decade, his stature in domestic cricket has been further enhanced with him being a BCCI match referee in close to fifty matches. He was also Chairman of the TN selection committee (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/01/sharath-on-tn-cricket-selection-policy.html?m=1) last decade and it was during his reign that T Natarajan, Washington Sundar, Sai Kishore, Jagadeesan and Pradosh Ranjan Paul (who is now making waves this season in Ranji cricket) made their Ranji debut.

In several of his long conversations with this writer over the last decade, Sharath has always been clear on the selection policies. Consistently he has held the view that the circumstances under which a batsman scores his runs and the contribution to a team’s winning cause is more important than the quantity of runs. He has pointed out repeatedly as to how in recent years TN batsman have become ‘2nd innings’ specialists scoring big runs and boosting their average when the match has already been lost.

As the Chairman of the Junior Selection committee, he travelled the length and breadth of the country over the last 15months watching the U19 players in action.  The Indian Juniors won the World Cup under his reign as the Chairman. 

Great Insights into Indian Cricket

On Thursday, he was once again vocal with this writer in a telecon from the Alur ground in Bangalore where he was watching the Ranji match between Karnataka and Rajasthan “Look at the top teams around the world and the chief of selectors there. Those heading Australia and England have not had much test experience but have in-depth knowledge of the domestic scene and the emerging players.”

He said that in addition to playing well over a 100 first class matches, he has watched over a century of matches as a Match Referee, TN Selector and the Junior India selector and knows inside out of who’s who in domestic cricket.

When he received the call from BCCI informing him of his elevation to the Senior Selection committee, he, as the Chairman of the Junior Committee, had already prepared the road map for the 2024 U19 World Cup “I have got a specific briefing from our Chairman Chetan Sharma on my immediate role as a selector and his expectations of me. I will work towards fulfilling that. This role is an extension of my contribution as a Junior Selector and I am confident I will be able to ease into this role” he said.

While he has many detractors (for several reasons), Sharath’s contribution to TN and South Zone cricket in the 1990s and early 2000s, having come back from a career threatening injury is unquestionable. Since his retirement he has tracked domestic cricket as closely as any over the last 15years. And the fact that he has a close friendship with both VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid since the early 1990s having played for South Zone alongside them is an added advantage.

In the next couple of years, it is likely Sharath will make significant contribution to Indian cricket especially in terms of identifying and picking the next gen players.

This section wishes Sharath the best in his new assignment.