(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) Newly appointed India women's team chief selector Amita Sharma said the chance of serving the national side once again is a 'very proud moment' for her. On Sunday, Amita, the seam-bowling all-rounder who played for India in 116 ODIs, five Tests and 41 T20Is, was appointed as the chairperson of the women's national selection committee during the BCCI's 95th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Mumbai.

She will now succeed Neetu David in the top job, with her tenure scheduled to begin after the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup is over. Amita will also be joined by Sulakshana Naik, Jaya Sharma and Sravanthi Naidu in the five-member panel alongside Shyama Dey Shaw.

“Right now, with phone calls coming in from all quarters, it's a little bit tiring. So I will see what happens next. But the main thing is that, the chance of serving the Indian team again is a very proud moment for me. I just feel so good to be attached with the Indian team in some capacity,” said Amita in an exclusive conversation with IANS.

Amita comes into the national panel on the back of being the chairperson of the senior women's selection committee in Delhi, where the side managed to consistently be in knockouts stages of various competitions and even won the U23 Women's T20 Trophy in the previous season. During her tenure in Delhi, players like Priya Mishra and Pratika Rawal (before switching to Railways) made their way to the Indian team.

“I just feel that more importance needs to be given to talent and less towards the numbers side of things. If a kid is good, talented and going to be a very useful player in future, then an extra chance has to be given. So this is something I try to do. Obviously, the player who makes runs does get selected, but what I always strive to do is doing things a little differently as compared to others,” she said about her style of selecting teams.

Amita also believes her stint as Delhi senior women's selection committee chair will be of immense help while being in the national panel.“It is absolutely going to come of great help as the selection process will be in the same manner. It's just that these things are now going to be done at a larger scale and I will have to make some changes to the style of selection I have. But for sure that experience of being in the same role in Delhi will help here.”

She signed off by being optimistic about Indian team's performance in the upcoming World Cup, when they begin their campaign against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on Tuesday.“My message for the Indian team is that, the way you are playing your cricket right now, just continue to play in that fashion. I will also be praying to God that the team does well and with all the positive vibes coming from them, I am sure they are going to do well in the competition.”

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