BCCI Appoints Former India Pacer Parvinder Awana As Junior Men's Chief Selector Ahead Of U-19 Asia Cup 2026

New Delhi, Oct 23: Former India pacer Parvinder Awana was on Friday appointed as chairman of the BCCI's junior men’s selection committee, with Krishna Das, Rakesh Patel and N Arjun Yadav named as members of the panel.

The appointments were made on the recommendation of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which screened and interviewed the applicants before finalising the names, the BCCI said in a media advisory. The fifth member of the committee will be appointed shortly, according to the advisory issued by BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia.

Awana's international and domestic cricket career

Awana, who played two T20Is for India, had a productive first-class career for Delhi, claiming 191 wickets in 62 matches. The former fast bowler turned out for Delhi, India A and Rest of India, and also played in the IPL for Kings XI Punjab, now known as Punjab Kings.

After hanging up his boots, Awana moved into coaching and has worked extensively in age-group cricket, with Delhi's U-16, U-19 and U-23 sides as well as the India U-19 team. He’s also currently the Delhi senior men’s bowling coach, and it means that he will have to relinquish the role to become the new India junior men’s chief selector.

He has also been involved in various high-performance programmes run by the BCCI and its Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. That previous experience of working closely with young players is expected to be valuable in his new role.

Das and Patel bring coaching experience

Meanwhile, Das, a former fast bowler, represented Assam and Goa in domestic cricket and picked up 166 wickets in 49 first-class matches. He played for India U-19 and India A, and later served as bowling coach of the India U-19 side and of Uttarakhand's senior men’s team.

Patel, who represented Gujarat and Baroda, also played for India A and featured in the Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Irani Trophy. He has coached both his former state sides across the U-19, U-23 and senior levels, and was head coach of the Baroda U-23 team in the 2025/26 season.

Yadav's playing and coaching background

Yadav, who played 83 first-class matches, was a member of India's U-19 World Cup-winning squad in 2000 and also represented India A. After his playing days with Hyderabad, he took up coaching and served as head coach of the Hyderabad senior and U-23 teams. He has been a BCCI match referee since 2022.

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Between them, the four members bring a mix of first-class experience and coaching know-how, with each having worked with junior or age-group sides in some capacity. Das and Yadav have both been part of the India U-19 men’s set-up as players in the past.

Selection panel's first major assignment

The panel will be responsible for selecting India's junior men’s teams, starting from the upcoming U-19 Men’s Asia Cup, set to happen from November 5-14 at Al Amerat Cricket Grounds in Oman.

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