Parvinder Awana named chairman of India's junior men's selection committee

The BCCI has handed the former India seamer charge of its new junior selection panel, with the Under-19 Asia Cup in Oman under a fortnight away

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced on Friday that Parvinder Awana will chair its reconstituted Junior Selection Committee, naming Krishna Das, Rakesh Patel and N Arjun Yadav alongside him.

A fifth member of the panel "will be appointed shortly", the board said in a media advisory issued under the name of honorary secretary Devajit Saikia. It did not say when that appointment would be made.

The four names were put forward by the Cricket Advisory Committee, which the BCCI said had "conducted a selection process for the appointment of members to the Junior Cricket Committee" before making its recommendation.

The panel takes over India's age-group sides at a crowded moment in the calendar. The ACC Under-19 Asia Cup begins in Oman on 5 November, leaving the new selectors a fortnight to settle into the job.

A Delhi seamer with 191 first-class wickets

Awana played two T20Is for India and spent the bulk of his career in domestic cricket with Delhi.

The right-arm quick took 191 wickets in 62 first-class matches, turning out for Delhi, India A and Rest of India. He also spent time with Kings XI Punjab in the IPL.

It is a playing record built almost entirely on the domestic circuit the junior panel feeds, rather than on international cricket.

From age-group coaching to the selectors' room

Awana moved into coaching after retiring, working through Delhi's Under-16, Under-19 and Under-23 sides and later with the India Under-19 team.

He has also been attached to the BCCI's high-performance programmes, including work at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

He is currently Delhi's senior men's bowling coach, a role news agency IANS reported he will have to give up to take the selection job.

Who joins him on the panel

Krishna Das, a former fast bowler for Assam and Goa, took 166 wickets in 49 first-class matches and has since worked as bowling coach of the India Under-19 side and with Uttarakhand's Ranji Trophy team.

Rakesh Patel played for Gujarat and Baroda as well as India A, and appeared in the Duleep, Deodhar and Irani Trophies. He has coached both states at Under-19, Under-23 and senior level, and was Baroda's Under-23 head coach in 2025-26.

N Arjun Yadav played 83 first-class matches for Hyderabad and was part of India's Under-19 World Cup-winning squad in 2000. He has coached Hyderabad's senior and Under-23 teams and has served as a BCCI match referee since 2022.

All four have coached at state level, and two of them — Awana and Das — have worked directly with the India Under-19 side.

A second selection panel settled this month

The announcement completes a reshuffle of India's selection machinery that has run through October.

Pragyan Ojha was confirmed earlier this month as chairman of the senior men's selection committee, with Ramesh Powar added to that panel in the seat vacated by Ajit Agarkar at the end of his tenure.

Both panels were filled on the recommendation of the same Cricket Advisory Committee.

The Under-19 Asia Cup comes first

The eight-team Under-19 Asia Cup runs from 5 to 14 November at the Oman Cricket Academy grounds in Al Amerat, and is played in the 50-over format.

India are in Group A with Pakistan, the UAE and Nepal. They open against Nepal on 6 November and meet Pakistan on 8 November.

The semi-finals are scheduled for 12 November and the final for 14 November.

India's squad for the tournament has not yet been announced.

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