The word on Ajit Agarkar’s exit from the BCCI selection panel is “single line” from Gautam Gambhir.
Gambhir, who has played alongside Agarkar in an era of big Indian cricket, publicly acknowledged the chairman, and wrote that history will “be kind” to him. The unusual wording left everyone with their eyes glued to the television, wondering what the India coach was alluding to.
In his message, Gambhir didn’t give any specific reasons for the choice. Rather, he complimented Agarkar’s attitude towards work and the three ICC trophies that the duo had won collectively as a team, calling the former India pacer a “man who always prioritized the team over himself”.
The significance of that reference is that the last few months of Agarkar’s tenure as chief selector coincided with a lot of discussion regarding the senior players in India and the direction of the national team.
The dropping of some of the Indian stalwarts from the T20 squad became one of the hot topics of the day. The selection of Yashasvi Jaiswal in the ODI setup, in the absence of AB de Villiers, was another factor that made headlines, while the future of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in Test cricket was also a talking point.
But the controversies are not all that Agarkar had to contend with. He assumed the role of the chairman in July 2023 and a wonderful run of form for India emerged.
The side went on to play in the 2023 ODI World Cup final and won the T20 World Cup in 2024, the Champions Trophy in 2025 and another T20 World Cup in 2026.
This contrast is why there’s been so much commentary on Gambhir’s message. Despite some controversial purges at the end of his playing days, agarkar left office after a very successful era on the pitch.
Indian cricket has already gone to the next level. Along with Shiv Sundar Das, Ajay Ratra, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha is the acting chairman of the selection committee.
BCCI is now looking for another West Zone selectors. The successful candidate will ultimately go on to form part of India’s future plans, which will involve identifying talent, keeping a tab on domestic cricket and building the squad.
Applications will close on 14th October, and candidates will be subject to the board’s experience and retirement requirements.
But for the time being, the spotlight is on the legacy of Agarkar – and Gambhir’s shrewd words mean that the discussion will never cease after his last selection meeting.
The verdict on whether “history will be kinder” will prove to be a reality or not will rely on the way the Indian cricket fraternity will look at the overall performance during one of its best eras of late.