Ajit Agarkar's unflinching response to Sanju Samson omission; ends suspense behind Ravindra Jadeja's future post ODI axe
India vs Sri Lanka: BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar cleared the air on why Ravindra Jadeja and Sanju Samson was not named for the ODI series
At new head coach Gautam Gambhir's request, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma made themselves available for the ODI series against Sri Lanka next month, just three weeks after they retired from the T20I format. The duo had made the big announcement within hours of India winning the T20 World Cup, and a little later, Ravindra Jadeja followed suit. However, the latter was not recalled for the contest, which subsequently sparked questions on his future in white-ball cricket. However, BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar cleared the air on why the all-rounder was not named for the ODI series.
India will only play six ODI matches in the build-up to the ICC Champions Trophy in February of next year. Besides the three matches against Sri Lanka, which will be played between August 3 and 7 in Colombo, India will host England for a three-match contest next year, just a week before leaving for the tournament. With Jadeja missing from the ODI squad, it sparked questions about his future in the format, and whether he was in the scheme of things for the Champions Trophy.
Speaking to the press on Monday ahead of Indian team's departure for the Sri Lanka tour, Agarkar assured that Jadeja was not dropped and that he remains in the management's plan for the Champions Trophy. He explained that with India wanting to test Axar Patel in the format after his impressive show in the T20Is, selectors could only pick one left-handed spine-bowling all-rounder in the squad.
"Not at all dropped. Either him or Axar. Big test season coming up. I don’t think 3 games would have mattered. We should have cleared. He is still within the scheme of things," he said.
Why was Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad not picked?
Among the other notable omissions from the ODI squad included Sanju Samson, who scored a brilliant century in India's last match in the format, in December 2023. However, the selectors sided with Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul as the wicketkeeping options for the ODIs, although he was picked for the T20I contest. Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad, despite leading India to a gold medal haul at the Asian Games last year and showing his ability to bat with finesse at any position in the line-up during the T20I series against Zimbabwe, was not picked for either of the series.
“Every player left out feels hard done. You’ve got to see who’s picked ahead. At this stage, we had the opportunity to send guys to Zimbabwe. Sometimes it’s just the way things go. Tough to stuff all in 15,” Agarkar said.
The tour of Sri Lanka, which will also be Gambhir's first assignment as the head coach, will begin on July 27 with the T20I series, followed by the ODIs next month.
