Ajit Agarkar, a famous former fast bowler from India, has recently been appointed as the chairman of selectors for the Indian men’s cricket team. At 45 years old, Agarkar actively applied for the selector’s position, which had been vacant since February when Chetan Sharma resigned due to a sting operation carried out by an Indian television network.
Ajit Agarkar, who has played 26 Test matches and 191 ODIs for India, will join the existing India men’s selection panel as the fifth member. The current panel includes Shiv Sunder Das, Salil Ankola, Subroto Banerjee, and S Sharath. As per the rules set by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Agarkar, being the most experienced member, will assume the role of chairman. The primary task ahead for the selection panel is to choose the squad for the upcoming five T20Is against West Indies, scheduled to commence on August 3.
It is believed that Agarkar was unanimously chosen by the three-person Cricket Advisory Committee, consisting of Ashok Malhotra, Sulakshana Naik, and Jatin Paranjape, who conducted the interviews on Monday. While it remains unconfirmed whether Agarkar was the sole applicant for the position, the BCCI had advertised the vacancy with a deadline of June 30.
Ajit Agarkar, who has also represented India in four T20Is, will be taking on the role of chairman of selectors for the second time. He previously held the position at a smaller level for Mumbai from 2017 to 2019. Agarkar had been associated with the coaching staff of the Delhi Capitals for the past two years, but they have recently decided not to renew his contract.
Also read: Chetan Sharma resigns from the post of BCCI Chief Selector
The selection panel for the Indian team has been subject to uncertainty, which adds to the feeling of transition within the team. The situation began last year when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) deviated from the convention of giving a chairman two terms and called for new applications after the T20 World Cup semi-final loss. However, the board failed to attract a better candidate and subsequently reappointed Chetan Sharma as the chairman of selectors. His resignation followed the sting operation, although the BCCI has not officially acknowledged it.
With Agarkar’s appointment, the selection panel now consists of two selectors from the West Zone, with Salil Ankola being the other representative. However, according to the BCCI constitution, which was drafted based on the recommendations of the RM Lodha committee, there is no explicit mention of selectors being appointed on a zonal basis. The constitution states that the selectors should have been retired for at least five years and have played a certain number of matches. Traditionally, the BCCI has followed an unwritten rule of selecting a representative from each of the five zones. Nevertheless, the advertisement for the selector’s role did not specify the requirement of a candidate from a specific zone.