MCA wants Vengsarkar as ICC match referee

Once bitten, not shy! The BCCI may have overlooked its ‘candidate’, Abey Kuruvilla, for the post of West Zone selector but that hasn’t stopped the MCA from proposing Dilip Vengsarkar’s name for the ICC’s ‘Elite Panel of Referees’.

Mumbai Cricket Association president Ravi Savant has requested Board of Control for Cricket in India president N Srinivasan to pitch for the former India captain. “I met the BCCI president during the recent annual general meeting in Mumbai. Mr Vengsarkar is a man of stature and I am sure Mr Srinivasan will propose his name for the post of match referee,” Savant told DNA on Saturday.

The International Cricket Council’s ‘Elite Panel of Referees’ is a seven-member team comprising Ranjan Madugalle, Roshan Mahanama (both Sri Lanka), David Boon (Australia), Chris Broad (England), Jeff Crowe (New Zealand), Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe) and our own Javagal Srinath.

The composition of the panel is reviewed every year and announced on April 1. This means someone in the panel will have to resign for a vacancy to be created. For instance, Australia’s Bruce Oxenford replaced countryman Simon Taufel (retired) in the Elite Panel of Umpires recently.

But if the BCCI does have its way, then Vengsarkar, a veteran of 116 Tests, will become only the third Indian match referee. Batting legend GR Viswanath was part of the inaugural panel appointed in 2002.