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'Bumrah hid injury': What else Chetan Sharma said in TV sting operation

BCCI is expected to take strict action against chief selector Sharma

chetan-sharma-file (File) Chetan Sharma | via Twitter

BCCI chief selector Chetan Sharma was caught in a controversy on Tuesday after he allegedly revealed classified Team India-related information during a sting operation by a TV channel.

Sharma, who was recently reinstated by the BCCI after being removed following India's ouster from the T20 World Cup in Australia, was seen in the sting operation casting aspersions on Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. Sharma also allegedly revealed his internal discussions with head coach Rahul Dravid and Kohli during the sting conducted by Zee News.

Sharma alleged that a lot of players take injections to expedite their return to competitive cricket despite being 80 to 85 per cent fit.

The former India pace bowler also alleged that there was a difference of opinion between him and the team management over Bumrah's return from a stress fracture for the T20I series against Australia in September.

According to Zee News, Sharma said Bumrah's pain aggravated before the second T20I against Australia but he hid it to retain his place in the T20 World Cup squad. He played in two T20Is against Australia but had to pull out of the South Africa series, and the T20 World Cup, too, later.

Bumrah still continues to be out of action, and will likely miss the entire four-Test Border-Gavaskar series and the three-match ODI series after that.

Sharma also alleged that there was an ego tussle between former captain Kohli and former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly. Sharma, according to Zee News, said that though Ganguly did not favour Rohit Sharma, he never liked Kohli.

Kohli had said in an explosive press conference before the South Africa tour that the BCCI informed him just an hour and a half before sacking him as the ODI captain. Commenting on it, Sharma is heard saying in the video: “Virat Kohli felt he lost the captaincy because of BCCI president. There were nine people in the selection committee video conference. Ganguly may have told him ‘think about it once’. I think Kohli didn’t hear it. There were 9 others there including myself and all other selectors, BCCI officials. Kohli might not have heard him."

The TV also quoted him as saying that wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan's white-ball form has put the careers of Sanju Samson, K.L. Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan in jeopardy.

Sharma also said that Pandya visits his house often, and that he shares a good relationship with Pandya and Rohit Sharma.

The chief selector said that there is no battle between Kohli and Rohit Sharma but there is ego. “Both are like big film stars you can say - Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra," Zee News quoted him as saying.

Sharma is yet to comment on the sting operation.

It is learnt that the BCCI is looking into the matter, as national selectors are bound by contract and not supposed to speak to the media.

"It will be (BCCI secretary) Jay's (Shah) call as to what will be Chetan's future. The question is whether T20 skipper Hardik Pandya or ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma would like to sit with Chetan in a selection meeting knowing that he has let out internal discussions," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

(With PTI inputs)

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