Former Indian cricketer and commentator Ravichandran Ashwin has asserted that the Indian chief selector Ajit Agarkar could have handled the seniors Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and himself, in a better way when they phased out of the longest format of the game.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin reckoned that Agarkar has been pushed into difficult situations several times during his tenure as chairman of selectors. Notably, Agarkar’s tenure is set to come to an end on October 4.
“As a chairman, he has been pushed into difficult situations several times. He had to handle several big names phasing out. Though there is another side that says many established players like Virat, Rohit, or myself were pushed out. Even I have felt it could have been dealt with better and the communication could have been better. But I will segregate the two because I am a player and he was doing his job,” Ashwin said.
“Not all the decisions would have been his. He deserves a lot of praise. His exit must be his personal choice. He said the same thing when I retired,” he added.
Further, the former off-spinner asserted that Agarkar was unfairly slammed in the veteran batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s episode ahead of the ICC ODI World Cup 2027. Notably, there has been a lot of speculation surrounding the duo’s future ahead of the mega event.
“He (Agarkar) has made some selection mistakes also, but who hasn’t? He gets easily criticized when big players like Rohit or Virat’s place in the team makes the headlines. Let’s not forget Agarkar was also a very good player at one time. That’s why he became the chairman of selectors. So he knows cricket better than the general cricketing audience. There would have been a rationale behind all his moves, and he has done a very commendable job,” Ashwin concluded.
Agarkar and Rohit faced a major fallout after reports revealed the selection committee wanted to move past him ahead of the mega event, only for the BCCI to publicly back the player.
