Calcutta: Former captain Dilip Vengsarkar, who was among the five recommended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for inclusion in the Elite Panel of Match Referees, on Tuesday said he was disappointed at not making it finally.

Former India pacer Jawagal Srinath, 36, was last month added as the youngest member on the panel. Besides Vengsarkar and Srinath, Shivlal Yadav, Kiran More and Robin Singh were recommended by the Board.

“It feels bad not to have been appointed as Match Referee,” Vengsarkar (116 Tests, 129 ODIs) told the media in Mumbai.

“What is surprising is that I wasn’t even interviewed. In fact, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had been asking me to apply,” he added.

That the ICC had “approached” him some years ago, but he’d decided against throwing his hat in the ring then, was reported by The Telegraph on March 26.