Former India cricketer Salil Ankola appointed Mumbai Chief Selector

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has appointed former India cricketer Salil Ankola as Mumbai’s chief selector for the upcoming, curtailed domestic season.

Ankola will be joined by other members – Sanjay Patil, Ravindra Thaker, Zulfiqar Parkar and Ravi Kulkarni who have also been picked by the MCA. As per their official release, the MCA will announce the name of the coach soon, with just 24 days to go the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

52-year-old Ankola made his Test debut in 1989 against Pakistan, in the same match that the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar debuted. It was the only Test he ever played, despite coming up the ranks in domestic cricket. Ankola went to play 20 ODIs before calling it quits at 28 to pursue a career in acting. He appeared in several Indian television shows and films.

“Ankola is a former India player who wanted to give something back to the game, which is why applied for the job and showed keen interest. Our committee made him the chief selector because we felt that he was the only former Test cricketer amongst the applicants,” Lalchand Rajput, head of the MCA Cricket Improvement Committee, told TOI.

The shortened Indian domestic season kick starts on January 10 with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with the final scheduled on January 31 at the renovated Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.