Ajit Agarkar's tenure: Decisions that raised eyebrows
What's the story
Ajit Agarkar's future as Team India's chief selector hangs in the balance, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) likely to hold a key meeting soon. The meeting will be with the chairman of the senior men's selection committee and will determine if he will continue in his role. Despite support from both the BCCI and Indian team members, no final decision has been made yet. Here are the bold/controversial decisions taken in his reign.
#1
Rohit, Suryakumar sacked as captains
Rohit Sharma's removal as ODI skipper after leading India to the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy was among Agarkar's biggest calls.
The selectors preferred Shubman Gill, citing the difficulty of managing different captains across formats.
A year later, Suryakumar Yadav was in a similar spot. After powering India to the ICC T20 World Cup title, he was replaced by Shreyas Iyer both as a captain and player.
#2
Sudden retirements of veteran players
The retirements of Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli from Test cricket also marked a dramatic transition during Agarkar's tenure.
Ashwin retired midway through the Australia series in December 2024, while Rohit and Kohli announced sudden retirements in May 2025.
It was reported that both Rohit and Kohli were willing to board the flight for the England Test tour.
#3
Controversial selection calls
With Agarkar at the helm, several selection calls across formats have raised eyebrows.
The decision to make Gill the T20I vice-captain and then drop him from the squad sparked discussion.
Meanwhile, the Mohammed Shami-Agarkar continued to be a hot topic.
More recently, Sanju Samson's omission from the Zimbabwe T20Is, despite being the T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament, was widely questioned.
There were also calls for Rohit's retirement before he shut the critics at Lord's.