‘Bhagwan bhala kare Indian cricket ka’ – Fans react as Ajit Agarkar gets appointed as Chief Selector of Indian Cricket Team

Ajit Agarkar, the former India T20 World Cup-winning all-rounder, has been named the new men’s team selectors chairman. Agarkar takes up the role that has been vacant since February following Chetan Sharma’s dismissal following a sting operation conducted on him by a TV station that put him in hot water.

The Indian Cricket Board regulations require that the committee’s chairman be the highest-capped Test player among the five members. When it was deemed that Indian cricket required a chairman with a higher profile than Shiv Sundar Das, the temporary chairman, who played 23 Tests, board officials found it difficult to find a successor from the North Zone, which Sharma represented.

Agarkar is the only candidate who appeared for interview: Indian Cricket Board

An Indian Cricket Board source informed PTI, “Agarkar is the only candidate who appeared for interview. It was a virtual one as he is currently abroad on a family break.” The first two selections come from the same zone. Agarkar who played 26 Tests and fellow selector Salil Ankola are both from the West and from the same state unit (Mumbai). According to a source close to the situation, Ankola might make way for a North Zone selector in the near future. He will be the selector for India’s visit to the West Indies, where they will play two Tests, three ODIs, and five T20s beginning on July 12. The other selectors are Subroto Banerjee and Sridharan Sharath.

After being interviewed by the Cricket Advisory Committee, which includes Sulakshana Naik, Ashok Malhotra, and Jatin Paranjape, Agarkar emerged as the favourite for the role. Agarkar, who has 349 international wickets in a nine-year career, has a great pedigree, having previously excelled in the limited administrative positions allocated to him. From 2017 to 2019, he was the head of selectors for Mumbai and a member of the Delhi Capitals alongside coach Ricky Ponting and director of cricket Sourav Ganguly.

The ODI and Test squads were announced last month, but with Indian cricket in transition, which has begun with the T20I set-up sporting a younger and fresher look under Hardik Pandya, the former Indian pacer would like to streamline players who will represent India at the 20-20 World Cup next year in the West Indies and the United States.

Here’s how fans reacted