Sehwag, however, felt that selectors should be paid more in order to attract the right talent for the job. When asked if he is ready to take up this challenge, Sehwag ruled himself out of the race.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag has always been known for his straight bat blows and on Wednesday he minced no words whether it was to do with the question of tainted S Sreesanth's ambition to make comeback into the national team or backing his former skipper Anil Kumble to be the next chief selector, provided the salary package is increased to attract the best talent.
Not to forget that Kumble coached Team India between 2016 and 2017 before being unceremoniously ousted from the top job after his spat with skipper Virat Kohli. Since Ravi Shastri has reappointed head coach for second consecutive term by Kapil Dev-led Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) only last week, there has been a unanimity amongst former players including the former skipper Sunil Gavaskar that the present bunch of selectors under MSK Prasad are nothing but "lame ducks".
Prasad & Co got a lot of flak in the aftermath of team's semifinal exit in the recent ICC World Cup. The questions have even been raised about credentials of the selection panel committee with respect to their playing careers and few Sehwag feels that former players with considerable experience of playing at the highest level could be more suitable for the job.
Kumble, currently heading the ICC Cricket Committee, was considered to be a great motivator inside dressing room during his playing career. "I think Anil Kumble could be the right candidate for the chairman of selectors post. He is someone who has interacted with Sachin (Tendulkar), Sourav (Ganguly) and Rahul (Dravid) as a player and with youngsters as a coach," Sehwag said on Wednesday, adding: "When Anil Kumble became the captain, he came to my room and said 'go and play how you play as in the next two series you won't be dropped'. That kind of confidence he gave."
Sehwag, however, felt that selectors should be paid more in order to attract the right talent for the job. When asked if he is ready to take up this challenge, Sehwag ruled himself out of the race. "If you are a selector, then you have a lot of restrictions like you cannot commentate, write columns and then there's conflict of interest which I don't understand."
NADA not an issue
On issue of BCCI might be forced to come under National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) soon, Sehwag commented that Team India players have never had any issue regarding being tested by national agency.
"Players have an issue with the whereabouts clause and not about being tested by NADA or any other agency. In fact, we have been tested several times both in and out of competition. No current player has commented on it yet. So, we have to wait and see," said Sehwag.
Last but not the least, the former Delhi skipper expressed happiness over his former teammate S Sreesanth's ban being reduced to seven years.
"Good to see Sreesanth's ban is reduced. Hope to see him soon playing for some club or state," was how he reacted when asked to react whether he can foresee speedster making a comeback into Team India when he is already 36-year-old.
It must be mentioned that Sreesanth made his ambitions clear that he wants to pick 100 wickets in Test cricket on his return in 2020. "He has to play domestic cricket first," Sehwag said. But when reminded that in similar kind of situation where Pakistan's speedster Mohammad Amir was immediately roped in into national squad after his spot-fixing ban was lifted, the swashbuckling batsman stated: "Pakistan me kuch bhi hota hai (Anything could happen in Pakistan)."
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 "Virender Sehwag")
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