Former India fast bowler Ajit Agarkar will lead the Team India selection panel consisting of SS Das, Salil Ankola, Subroto Banerjee and S Sharath. The right-arm pacer from Mumbai has been a chairman of the selection panel in the past, as he headed the post for Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) twice in 2017 and 2019. (Pic: AFP)
Updated On: 2023-07-06 03:01 PM IST
Compiled by : Srijanee Majumdar
After Sarfaraz Khan’s non-selection in the Test team, a debate raged on as Indian selectors gave Indian Premier League (IPL) performance more weightage than domestic cricket. As a new selection panel, Agarkar will have to strike a balance between domestic cricket and IPL for a fair selection.
The aim should be to have separate teams for separate formats to fine tune the workload better. Currently, all the formats need different strategies, players and sets of plans. Indian management will have to think beyond their core and look for players more suited for the required format. The roles should be divided among everyone to set a fixed target of winning big ICC titles in each format.
Team India is already undergoing a slow transition as the senior pros Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja are all over 35 years. The management will look to churn out young talent stepping in to take responsibility at this juncture. Agarkar will have a huge task of identifying the players best suited to replace the seniors and also have a chat about their future.
The recently concluded World Test Championship Final has come as a setback for the Men in Blue. India suffered a crushing defeat against Australia in the WTC Final at The Oval. As a chairman, Agarkar will be required to work on rebuilding the squad for the upcoming World Test Championship cycle 2023-25. He will have to scout players fit and ready for India’s prospects. India will have to be well-prepared for the upcoming WTC Cycle.
Multiple captaincy is a phenomenon that has been gaining immense popularity of late. Rohit Sharma is currently the captain in all three formats of Team India, however, as seen in BCCI’s advertisement for the selector’s role, it was mentioned that the new selector will have to appoint new captains in each formats of the game. It will, therefore, be interesting to see which direction Agarkar goes in his term as India may soon opt for different captains for different formats.
