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End of Ajit Agarkar era? BCCI looking for new chief selector for Indian cricket team - Report | Cricket News

Cricket News · Soham Mukherjee · 2026-09-03T14:52:51+00:00 · nguồn gốc

KEY TAKEAWAYS: - Reports suggest BCCI won't extend Ajit Agarkar's tenure as chief selector and has begun searching for his replacement. - Agarkar missed a crucial BCCI meeting attended by top captains and coaches, sparking rumours despite official denial. - Under Agarkar's watch, India reached four ICC finals and won three titles, including two T20 World Cups. BCCI is in search of a new men's chief selector to replace Ajit Agarkar: Report BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar's days are reportedly numbered as the board has already started scouting for someone to take over the position, with an extension for the former India international looking increasingly unlikely. Agarkar is set to wrap up three years in the chairman's chair come September. Technically, the rules allow for a one-year extension if the board wants to keep him on. But that's apparently not the direction things are heading, as revealed by News 24. The BCCI called a high-priority meeting on Thursday, bringing together India's captains, Shubman Gill, who leads the Test and ODI sides, and Shreyas Iyer, in charge of the T20I unit, along with head coach Gautam Gambhir. Several senior board officials, including secretary Devajit Saikia, showed up too, and so did VVS Laxman, director of cricket at the Centre of Excellence. However, one name was conspicuously missing: chief selector Agarkar, who wasn't there in person or even on a call. Given how much chatter had already built up around his future, skipping this particular meeting only added fuel to the fire. Saikia, though, moved quickly to shut the speculation down. "Today he [Ajit Agarkar] was out of station. He could not be a part of the meeting because this meeting was called at a very short notice. And our head of the selection committee, Ajit, he was not in town so he could not join it. And he was in such an area that he could not join online also, in spite of our best efforts," Saikia clarified. When pushed on whether an extension for Agarkar had even come up during discussions, Saikia kept it brief and straight. "There was no such discussion in today's meeting," he said. A look back at Agarkar's record as chief selector Whatever happens next, there's no denying Agarkar's stint has been eventful and he hasn't shied away from tough, sometimes unpopular calls. Backing Suryakumar Yadav as the long-term T20I captain ahead of Hardik Pandya was one such gamble that raised eyebrows at the time. Even trickier was the call to remove Rohit Sharma from the ODI captaincy. The results, though, speak for themselves in many ways. Between October 2023 and March 2026, teams picked under his watch made it to four ICC tournament finals, walking away winners in three: two T20 World Cup titles and a Champions Trophy crown among them. His panel also forced Test retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit and quietly phased out veteran pacer Mohammed Shami. They even dropped Test and ODI skipper Shubman Gill entirely from the T20 World Cup squad. MORE: Gambhir or Laxman: Who will be head coach of India T20I team in Asian Games? A tough call to make, given the trophy cabinet during Agarkar's tenure If the reports do turn out true, this would be one of the more baffling calls the BCCI has made in a while. Three ICC titles in under three years isn't a record you walk away from lightly, and most cricket boards around the world would kill for that kind of return. Agarkar's selection calls weren't always popular; dropping Gill from a World Cup squad or moving on from Rohit as ODI captain certainly ruffled feathers, but results don't lie, and his committee delivered when it mattered most. MORE: Rohit Sharma's 2027 ODI World Cup chances hang in the balance However, if reports are to be believed, the selection committee remains determined that Rohit cannot be a part of the ODI 2027 squad. Whereas Saikia has time and again insisted that only form will dictate the decision, the former captain currently remains in contention for a ticket to South Africa. Nonetheless, if India's next selection panel struggles to match this strike rate, don't be surprised if this decision gets revisited with plenty of hindsight and regret. For all the latest cricket news, opinion, and commentary, and to share your voice, head to our Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter) pages.