Parvinder Awana played two T20Is for India, and his junior selection panel has a U19 Asia Cup squad to pick
The BCCI has named the former Delhi fast bowler to replace S Sharath as chairman, with India’s U19 side due in Oman for the Asia Cup in November.
Oct 23, 2026
The BCCI named Parvinder Awana chairman of its junior selection committee on Friday. The former Delhi fast bowler played two T20Is for India and 62 first-class matches, in which he took 191 wickets. He leads a panel of Krishna Das, Rakesh Patel and N. Arjun Yadav, with a fifth member to be appointed shortly.
The Cricket Advisory Committee screened and interviewed the applicants and recommended all four. Board secretary Devajit Saikia signed the announcement.
Four coaches, one empty seat
Awana played for Delhi, India A and Rest of India, and for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL. Since retiring he has coached Delhi’s U16, U19 and U23 sides and India U19, and worked on the BCCI’s high-performance programmes. Most of his career since has been spent in age-group cricket, which is now the cricket he has to judge.
The other three have similar paths. Das, who bowled fast for Assam and Goa, took 166 wickets in 49 first-class matches and later coached the India U19 bowlers. Patel played for Gujarat, Baroda and India A, and was head coach of Baroda’s U23 side last season. Yadav played 83 first-class matches for Hyderabad, was part of India’s U19 World Cup-winning squad in 2000, and has been a BCCI match referee since 2022.
Following Sharath’s panel
They replace the committee chaired by former Tamil Nadu batter S Sharath, which was appointed in September 2021 and has finished its five-year term. India won two U19 World Cups on its watch: in 2022 under Yash Dhull, and in February this year under Ayush Mhatre, when they beat England by 100 runs in Harare for a record sixth title.
The BCCI advertised five places on 24 August. Applicants needed at least 25 first-class matches and five years since retiring from all cricket.
First stop, Oman
There will not be much time to settle in. The U19 Men’s Asia Cup is in Oman in November, an eight-team 50-over event at Al Amerat with the final on 14 November. India play Nepal on 6 November, Pakistan on 8 November and the UAE on 10 November. The BCCI has not yet announced its squad, so that looks like the new panel’s first big decision.
Sharath’s committee picked two World Cup-winning sides in five years, and that is a hard record to inherit. Awana’s starts with an India-Pakistan game just over two weeks away and one seat still empty.