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NEW DELHI: Sporting the Indian cricket team’s training kit and Cloudmonster joggers, chief selector Ajit Agarkar is a regular feature at net sessions – both home and abroad, but definitely abroad. When he is not keeping tabs on the squad in the nets, he is either on the golf course or exploring the sights and sounds of the country the team is stationed in for their next assignment. Be it exploring the famous Birmingham canal stretch (during India tour of England) with fellow selector SS Das or visiting famous eateries Down Under. When none of that is happening, he remains on the move attending birthday celebrations of his near and dear ones at exotic destinations.
None of the roads and flights, however, have covered India’s vast domestic set-up where hundreds of cricketers turn up and participate in the Ranji Trophy. A tournament which has for decades remained the feeder line for the senior team but the current chief selector has chosen to turn a blind eye towards it. His visits to the fixtures have been few and far between, and it’s not a surprise that the grind has now become lonely for the cricketers who frustratingly wait to take the next step.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The last noteworthy appearance by Agarkar in a Ranji game was during the 2024 fixture between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in Chennai following which Devdutt Padikkal got his maiden Test call-up for the home Tests vs England as a replacement for KL Rahul. Riding the confidence from his 151, the elegant southpaw went on to make his Test debut in the series.
Kolkata: India’s Devdutt Padikkal during a training session ahead of the second Test cricket match between India and South Africa, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra)(PTI11_18_2025_000165A)
It took Padikkal one authoritative inning to convince the chief selector during his rare domestic appearance which begs a pertinent question. How many more Padikkals could have happened had Agarkar given more importance to the domestic competitions. There is a worrying selection trend in Indian cricket in the last 24 months and while some moves have got results, the process isn’t pointing towards a stable feeder line.Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Padikkal and Sai Sudharsan have all been more instinct driven calls as all of them don’t have the First Class volume behind them. The kind of volume which Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Rajat Patidar and Baba Indrajith have but haven’t got the backing the former lot has had. It was baffling that it took selectors so many years to hand Indrajith his maiden India A call during the tour before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and he has been left in the wild after that.
Bengaluru: Cricketer Sarfaraz Khan at BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground, in Bengaluru, Karnataka. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)(PTI08_31_2025_000092A)
The selection committees led by Agarkar owe Sarfaraz, Abhimanyu and others an explanation for the treatment they received and the tight rope they were asked to walk. The rope was in fact abruptly snapped for the two specialist batters who were conveniently dropped from the set-up to give a longer rope to players with little First Class experience but endless backing from the system.When it comes to selections, there’s no black and white, but why is the former India cricketer averse to travelling the country to identify potential players and even discuss matters with them on the sidelines? Clear communication hasn’t been Agarkar’s strongest suit during the tenure but he should have taken a leaf out of his predecessors’ book. They maintained a working relationship with the then NCA, India A and U-19 set-up and even the state associations.
How is it fair?
- Seen regularly on overseas tours, rarely at Ranji Trophy games — creating a widening gap with domestic players.
- Selections favouring low–First Class volume players over consistent domestic run machines like Sarfaraz and Easwaran.
- Players punished for skipping domestic cricket, while the chief selector himself largely skips the circuit.
- Multiple foreign tours during Ranji season — echoing earlier criticism from his Mumbai selector stint.
- Relying on apps and scorecards instead of ground scouting risks weakening India’s talent pipeline.
Countless examples exist of a chief selector taking a trip for a Ranji game to ask a targeted player to be ready whenever an opportunity arises. Even the concerned state association was asked to keep a mindful tab on the progress but all this has now come to an abrupt halt. The players knocking on the doors are not getting answers and the selection affairs now seem to be operating on a different wavelength.
Nagpur: Jharkhand’s captain Ishan Kishan during the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy match between Vidarbha and Jharkhand at VCA Stadium, in Nagpur, Maharashtra. (PTI Photo)(PTI10_28_2025_000166B)
The same chief selector made so much noise about cricketers skipping the domestic circuit but has himself been a notable absentee during his tenure. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan were punished – dropped from central contracts – when they didn’t turn up for their respective state teams. Pressure was piled on Hardik Pandya to continue proving himself for Baroda and the BCCI diktat, spearheaded by Agarkar, even forced Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to play a Ranji Trophy fixture.It was indeed a pointless Ranji appearance for both Rohit and Virat as India was preparing for the 50-over Champions Trophy next and neither played a red-ball fixture for India after that. So this diktat is fine to implement, but it just can’t be an arrogant order that serves no purpose. Hardik for instance playing a domestic fixture after an injury layoff is understandable but why needlessly increase the workload of the all-rounder who has been the most vital cog in the white-ball set-up? Only Agarkar, and even the BCCI, can answer that.
We will speak to the selectors too (on the Test debacle) and as far as watching domestic games is concerned, every score comes on the app.
BCCI Official
Old habits die hard
In the last 12 months, Agarkar has been in Australia, Dubai, England, Dubai again and Australia again. For two of the tours he has had fellow selector SS Das for company. One such trip – during white ball series Down Under – happened when the Ranji Trophy was underway back home. Two Indian selectors accompanied the team for three ODIs and five T20Is, at a time when they should have been back home identifying the next set of red-ball specialists.This is not the first time something like this has happened with Agarkar. Many moons ago, when he was the chief selector of Mumbai, the former seamer was accused of not watching enough local games in the city, making questionable selection calls and was eventually forced to resign. The heat was so strong back in the day that sacking was on the cards but Agarkar chose the honourable exit route by putting in his papers.
Poll
Do you believe Ajit Agarkar should prioritize attending more Ranji Trophy matches?
It’s impossible to have selectors at every venue but it’s imperative that they identify the fixtures based on the team’s need and help identify players who are capable of taking the next step. A scorecard does not always reflect the true story and there are occasions where a fluent 70 carries more weight than a scratchy 120. A senior BCCI official was questioned about the chief selector’s regular absence from the domestic circuit but he downplayed it, saying everything is available on streaming apps these days.“We will speak to the selectors too (on the Test debacle) and as far as watching domestic games is concerned, every score comes on the app,” said the senior office bearer on the sidelines of the WPL auction in Delhi.If squads are going to be picked based on stats on the app, the Indian cricket board might as well dissolve the selection panel and pick players using Artificial Intelligence. Selection is something which always remains subjective and debatable but it’s not an ideal situation when casual practice lets the entire system down. The questions are getting louder and it’s about time Agarkar answers them with his actions.
