Ramesh Powar likely to head BCCI junior selection committee

Former India spinner Ramesh Powar is set to become chairman of the BCCI's new national junior selection committee, The Indian Express reported on Saturday. Powar, a past head coach of the India women's team, coached the Gujarat senior men's side in 2025-26 and has decided to move on from that role. The BCCI invited applications for five posts on the junior cricket committee on August 24, 2026. The panel will select age-group teams up to Under-22.

Written by AI from CNN-News18 · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 19 Sept 2026, 4:33 pm IST

Source

CNN-News18 · read the original report ↗

#bcci#ramesh powar#junior selection#cricket#under-22

Desk check · some claims need care

What the desk checked (5)

Ramesh Powar is set to become chairman of BCCI's national junior selection committee — Attributed to a report in The Indian Express; framed as 'likely', no official BCCI confirmation in source
BCCI issued a notification on August 24, 2026 inviting applications for five posts on the junior cricket committee — Date and number appear in source, attributed to a BCCI release; date sits oddly after the story's stated publication cycle but is as printed
Applicants must have played at least 25 First-Class matches and retired at least five years earlier — Figures appear in source, attributed to the BCCI notification
Powar was head coach of Gujarat senior men's team in 2025-26 and has decided to move on — Stated in source without named source or quote
Committee will select age-group teams up to Under-22 and appoint captains across formats — Attributed to the BCCI release

Written by AI from CNN-News18 · not yet reviewed by an editor · How we use AI · Report an error

Analysts’ view opinion

AI Sports Analyst

A junior selection role may look modest from the outside, but it is one of the most consequential jobs in Indian cricket's talent pipeline — this panel picks age-group sides all the way up to Under-22. If Ramesh Powar takes the chair, the selection table gains someone with fresh dressing-room exposure, having coached the India women's team earlier and Gujarat's senior men in 2025-26. It marks a clear pivot in his career from coaching to selection, though for now this rests on a media report rather than a BCCI announcement.

The junior committee's remit goes well beyond naming squads — scouting, appointing captains, overseeing tours and filing periodic evaluation reports are all part of it.
Because the mandate stretches to Under-22, the bench strength feeding India's senior set-up depends directly on this panel's calls.
A coach's background brings first-hand insight into technique, fitness and temperament, which can sharpen judgement at the selection table.
Stepping away from the Gujarat coaching job appears to clear the path for this move, though the story does not spell out the reasons.
The eligibility bar — 25 first-class matches and at least five years since retirement — narrows the field to seasoned names, and the other four appointments will shape the panel's direction as much as the chair.

What to watch — Watch for the formal BCCI confirmation and the identity of the remaining four members, including how the zones are represented.

This is based on an Indian Express report and not a confirmed BCCI announcement; the tenure, the other members and the timeline are not established.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 5 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is constituting a new national junior selection committee, the panel that picks India's age-group teams. According to a report in The Indian Express, former India off-spinner Ramesh Powar — earlier head coach of the India women's team and, in 2025-26, of the Gujarat senior men's side — is set to be its chairman. The BCCI had issued a notification on August 24, 2026 inviting applications for five positions on the junior cricket committee. The panel's mandate covers selection of teams up to Under-22 along with talent scouting, tours and ethics education for young cricketers.

Key facts

The Indian Express reported on Saturday that Ramesh Powar is set to become chairman of the BCCI's national junior selection committee.
The BCCI released a notification inviting applications for five positions on the junior cricket committee on August 24, 2026.
The committee will select age-group teams up to Under-22 for coaching camps and India's junior fixtures, in India and overseas, across formats.
Eligibility: any former player with a minimum of 25 First-Class matches who retired from the game at least five years previously.
Powar, a former India spinner who played for India in the mid-2000s, was head coach of the Gujarat senior men's team in the 2025-26 season and has decided to move on.
Powar has earlier served as head coach of the Indian women's cricket team.
The panel will appoint captains across formats and prepare periodic evaluation reports on junior teams' performance and development.
The committee will promote ethical values among young cricketers, including awareness of drugs, betting and match-fixing, via interactions with senior and former players.

Timeline

Mid-2000sRamesh Powar plays for India as a spinner.
Earlier (year not stated in the source)Powar serves as head coach of the Indian women's cricket team.
2025-26 seasonPowar works as head coach of the Gujarat senior men's team; he later decides to move on from the role.
August 24, 2026BCCI releases notification inviting applications for five positions on the junior cricket committee.
September 19, 2026Report published that Powar is set to be named chairman of the new junior selection committee.

Who has a stake

BCCI — Needs a credible, transparent junior selection panel to build the talent pipeline and bench strength for India's age-group teams.
Ramesh Powar — Likely to head the junior selection committee after moving on from the Gujarat senior men's coaching role.
Junior/age-group cricketers up to Under-22 — Their selection for camps, tours and tournaments, and captaincy appointments, will be decided by this committee.
Former first-class cricketers — Eligible to apply for the five posts if they have 25 First-Class matches and retired at least five years ago.
Gujarat senior men's team — Loses its 2025-26 head coach as Powar moves on from the role.
State associations and domestic circuit — Their matches form the scouting ground through which the committee assesses and picks talent.

Why it matters

Junior selection decides who enters India's cricket pipeline, so the composition and credibility of this five-member panel shapes the next generation of internationals. The mandate goes beyond picking teams to scouting, evaluation reports, captaincy calls, overseas junior tours and educating teenagers about drugs, betting and match-fixing — an integrity function in a sport repeatedly tested by corruption. Appointing an experienced former India player and coach as chairman signals an emphasis on professionalising age-group selection.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

BCCI notification inviting applications for five junior cricket committee posts was issued on August 24, 2026.
The junior selection committee's remit covers age-group teams up to Under-22.
Eligibility for the panel: minimum 25 First-Class matches and retired at least five years earlier.
Ramesh Powar: former India spinner (mid-2000s), ex-head coach of the India women's team, Gujarat men's coach in 2025-26.
The committee also appoints captains across formats and prepares periodic evaluation reports on junior teams.
Ethics mandate: awareness on drugs, betting and match-fixing through interaction with senior and former players.

Mains framing

India's cricket dominance rests on a domestic and age-group pipeline, and the reconstitution of the BCCI's national junior selection committee — reportedly to be chaired by former India spinner Ramesh Powar — puts the machinery of talent identification in focus. The BCCI's August 24, 2026 notification frames the five-member panel's role broadly: selecting teams up to Under-22 "in a fair and transparent manner", scouting through domestic and international matches, contributing to coaching camps and overseas tours, appointing captains, preparing periodic evaluation reports, and organising junior tournaments. Eligibility norms — 25 First-Class matches and a five-year gap since retirement — are designed to combine playing credibility with distance from active conflicts of interest. Equally significant is the explicit integrity mandate: building ethical awareness among young cricketers around drugs, betting and match-fixing through interactions with senior and former players, an acknowledgement that vulnerability to corruption begins early. The way forward, on the source's own terms, lies in consistent scouting across the domestic circuit, documented evaluation of junior teams, and sustained exposure through overseas tours so that bench strength is built rather than assumed.

Key terms

BCCI: Board of Control for Cricket in India, the governing body that constitutes selection committees and runs junior tournaments and tours.
National junior selection committee: BCCI panel of five members that selects India's age-group teams up to Under-22 and oversees their development.
Under-22: The upper age-group limit of the teams this committee selects for camps, tours and junior fixtures.
First-Class matches: Long-format domestic/international matches; 25 such appearances is the minimum eligibility for applying to the committee.
Bench strength: The reserve pool of developed junior players available to step up to higher levels of Indian cricket.
Ramesh Powar: Former India spinner of the mid-2000s, ex-India women's head coach and Gujarat men's coach in 2025-26, tipped to chair the junior panel.

Practice questions

Discuss the role of age-group selection committees in sustaining a national sporting talent pipeline, with reference to the BCCI's new junior cricket committee.
The BCCI's junior committee mandate includes educating young cricketers about drugs, betting and match-fixing. Examine why integrity education at the junior level is critical for sports governance in India.
Evaluate the eligibility norms for BCCI selection panels (25 First-Class matches, five years since retirement). Do such criteria strengthen credibility or narrow the talent pool of administrators?

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

Next storyTwo TMC candidates withdraw from Nandigram, Rejinagar bypolls →

← All stories