Mumbai: India’s five-men selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar will have two new faces with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issuing advertisements for two positions on Friday.
As reported by HT on Thursday, former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha is frontrunner to replace outgoing selector from South Zone Sridharan Sharath. It is learnt, the other vacancy is set to arise as the selector from the Central Zone, former India pacer Subroto Banerjee, is being replaced.
While having Zonal representation in the selection committee is not a rule, it is a long followed convention in BCCI functioning.
The exits in the selection committee however are not being seen as a performance review, but merely adjustment of roles and responsibilities. Sharath is in line to take over as the Chairman of the junior selection committee, a post he held before becoming a senior selector. Thilak Naidu currently chairs the junior selection committee and the decision makers are known not to be happy with his performance.
As per BCCI rules, any member of a cricket committee cannot be in office for a cumulative period of more than five years. Sharath can serve for another one year. Ajay Ratra and Shiv Sundar Das are the other members in the senior selection committee.
{{/usCountry}}As per BCCI rules, any member of a cricket committee cannot be in office for a cumulative period of more than five years. Sharath can serve for another one year. Ajay Ratra and Shiv Sundar Das are the other members in the senior selection committee.
{{/usCountry}}Agarkar has already been granted a two-year extension and his current contract, it is learnt, runs till September 2026. Under Agarkar’s watch, the Indian team won the 2024 T20 World Cup, the 2025 ODI Champions Trophy and reached the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. He presided over the transition in Indian cricket which saw Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli bid good bye to Test cricket, after which Shubman Gill was appointed the Test captain.
The women’s selection panel is also set for an overhaul, with the terms of four selectors in the Neetu David-led committee ending in September. Shyama Shaw is the only one likely to stay, having joined in 2023. The other members of the panel are David, Aarti Vaidya, Kalpana Venkatachar and Renu Margrate.