BCCI breaks silence on criticism directed at Ajit Agarkar after South Africa whitewash: ‘Will speak to…’

Here's what the BCCI official said when asked about Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of selectors, not attending too many domestic cricket matches.

The recent Test series debacle against South Africa, which saw the hosts India go down 0-2, has raised several questions for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). A famous 2-2 draw against England earlier this year appears to be a thing of the past, and there is no clear plan in place for handling home conditions. Ever since head coach Gautam Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar took over, India have been whitewashed in home Test series on two occasions - one against New Zealand last year and now against the Proteas.

Ajit Agarkar also under the scanner for India's recent poor performances in Tests. (PTI)

While head coach Gambhir is coping with the most criticism, chairman of selectors Agarkar is also drawing some flak. Ever since the former India all-rounder took on a key selector role in 2023, India has tried out at least 30 different cricketers in Test cricket so far.

While Agarkar took credit for throwing Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel and Rajat Patidar in the deep water and coming out on top against England in January-February 2024, he also must take the blame for sidelining Sarfaraz and Abhimanyu Easwaran from Tests.

Another criticism of Agarkar is that he did not attend enough domestic matches during the season. The 47-year-old has been a constant presence during the abroad tours and even home Tests, but he has rarely been spotted watching the domestic games.

These little to no appearances at the Ranji Trophy matches have led to the widening gap between Agarkar and the domestic players. Over the last year, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and others have all made their Test debuts despite having below-par first-class averages, which are significantly lower than those of domestic performers like Sarfaraz, Karun Nair, and Easwaran.

However, the BCCI is not concerned for now, as the top official remarked that the scores are enough on the official website, and hence, this much is enough for the selector to make his call.

However, the official also said that the board will be speaking to the selection committee regarding the home series against South Africa.

“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,” the Times of India quoted a BCCI official as saying.

Agarkar's presence during abroad tours

Agarkar was a constant presence during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia last year and then the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England earlier this year.

However, Ranji appearances have been few and far between, with the last prominent one coming in 2024 during the fixture between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in Chennai, following which Devdutt Padikkal received his maiden Test call-up for the home Tests.

It is worth noting that a similar incident occurred when Agarkar was the selector for Mumbai, and he was accused of not attending enough matches in the city.