Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar was named as the men’s chief selector at a critical time for Indian cricket, when the ODI World Cup is just three months away, and calls for a transition growing louder in recent times due to certain unfavourable results.
The 45-year-old has replaced another former India pacer Chetan Sharma, who had to step down in February due to his loose comments in a sting operation conducted by a TV news reporter.
Interestingly, it is perhaps the first time that BCCI has dumped the ‘zonal formula’ while appointing a national selector, as Agarkar’s former Mumbai and India teammate Salil Ankola, who is already a part of the committee, is also from the West Zone. Shiv Sunder Das, Subroto Banerjee and S Sharath are the other members of the panel. Having played 26 Test, 191 ODIs and four T20Is in a decade-long career(1997-2007), in which he took 349 international wickets, Agarkar, who still holds the record for the fastest half century by an Indian in ODIs - against Zimbabwe in 2000 - and scored a Test century at Lord’s Cricket Ground in 2002, is the senior-most member of the panel and as per the BCCI rules became its chairman.
Agarkar’s first task will be selecting the side for the five T20Is against West Indies, which starts on August 3, and also selecting a second-string team for the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in September-October. Few can forget Agarkar’s 6-41 which shaped India’s famous win the Adelaide Test against Australia in 2003- he would often rustle up 140-plus pace and was known as a skiddy bowler. Early in his career, he held the record of being the fastest to 50 ODI wickets (23 matches).
Agarkar was Mumbai’s chief selector from 2017-19, and for the last two years, was the bowling coach with the Delhi Capitals.