Dilip Vengsarkar’s chances of becoming chairman of the national selection committee for a second term were ruled out after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) put an age cap of 60 years in its notification for applications to the post on Saturday.

The 63-year-old former India captain had earlier served as chief selector from October 2006 to September 2008. The BCCI advertised to fill up the following positions: two slots on the senior men’s selection committee, all five in the senior women’s selection committee, and two on the junior men’s selection panel. The last date of applications is January 24.

According to The Telegraph’s sources, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan or Venkatesh Prasad have now emerged as strong candidates to head the panel.

It remains to be seen if Gyanendra Pandey or Amay Khurasia is persisted with from Central in the five-man selection panel. In case a suitable candidate is not found from a particular zone, the BCCI can opt for candidates from other zones.

The current chairman of the senior selection committee, MSK Prasad from South Zone, and Central’s Gagan Khoda have been on extension having finished their four-year terms in November 2019.

Devang Gandhi, Jatin Paranjpe and Sarandeep Singh stay on the panel.

The national selectors will be chosen by a Cricket Advisory Committee but the BCCI has struggled to form one because of the contentious conflict of interest clause. The Supreme Court is expected to take up the matter this week.

All applicants need to have retired from the game at least five years ago. Candidates applying for the senior men’s positions should have played a minimum of seven Tests or 30 first-class matches or 10 ODIs and 20 first-class matches.

The MSK Prasad-led committee will have its final selection meeting when the Test and ODI squads for the New Zealand tour get picked on Sunday/Monday.