The Selection Committee is a group of national leaders that chooses finalists for the Builder Awards. The committee includes National Soccer Hall of Fame members, coaches and administrators with U.S. First Division experience, as well as sports media and historians. This group also screens nominees to ensure that they have no conflict of interest.
While Simone Biles is clearly a lock to make this year’s World Championship team, it will be a tough call for those hoping to join her in Katy, Texas. USAG will be looking to fill out the rest of their squad with two competitions in as many days, and they’ll be facing stiff competition from their fellow gymnasts.
This year’s Selection Committee has been augmented by one of India’s best gritty middle-order batsman from the 1980s, Kris Srikkanth. Representing South Zone, Srikkanth is joined by Yashpal Sharma of North and Narendra Hirwani of Central Zone to form an interesting mix of cricketing talent.
The new committee will have the power to decide on non-controversial issues without the need for a plenary session. However, it will still be obligated to hold a plenary session if another question of a substantive nature arises.
This change has brought in some controversy with former selectors, including Gautam Gambhir, who believes it could lead to the committee being biased against certain players. However, PCB chairman Shakil Naqvi disagrees.
He said: “The change is not to do away with the need for a plenary session, but rather to ensure that we have the right balance of talent on the committee.”
A former selector himself, Raja Venkatraman, has been named in this year’s committee as an independent member. He has had two previous stints with the BCCI and was part of the team that went on record in 2005 to denounce the omission of Sourav Ganguly from the ODI side for his remarks against the board.
While some might argue that it is unfair for the Selection Committee to be influenced by these comments, it’s important to remember that the members of this panel are not immune to such criticism and should be able to think on their own. The most important thing is to create a fair process.
A good way to do this is by ensuring that the rankings are private and only shared with other members of the committee after all votes have been cast. This will prevent social loafing and allow all members to be as objective as possible. It’s also important to conduct rounds of discussion with brief structured exchanges in between. This will ensure that every nominee gets the same amount of attention. This will help to keep the committee from becoming unwieldy and unproductive, which is a common issue with some selection committees. It’s crucial to avoid these problems so that the Selection Committee can effectively and efficiently select its Builder Award winners. Ideally, the committee will be able to make its decision by the end of September.