Vengsarkar refuses to select team for Aussie tour

Kolkata: Indian team chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has refused to select the Indian team for the oncoming Australian tour.

Though BCCI officials are not willing to confirm the news, Vengsarkar has apparently informed them that he will not be available for the selection committee meeting to be held on December 5.

It is well known that a powerful group in the Indian cricket board has been aiming for the ouster of Vengsarkar as chief selector. In turn, Vengsarkar has decided to make life difficult for the cricket board by not quitting the post at the same time refusing to do his duties as a selector.

Vengsarkar was humiliated by the board by instructing him not to write columns nor speak to the media. They threatened him with a show cause notice when he defied the order and continued with his column. Finally, he did agree to bow to the demands of the board following a meeting with Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president. Pawar had then assured that he would be compensated for the loss incurred from not writing the columns.

The anti-Vengsarkar lobby, who were unsatisfied with the humiliation inflicted on him, has continued to taunt him.

When Vengsarkar who was getting ready to fly to Eden Gardens to select the team for the third Test, he was told that he was to pick the team only through telephone conversation with his co-selectors.