Indian chief selector Ajit Agarkar is seen as the main driver behind the decision to remove double ICC-title winner Rohit Sharma from ODI captaincy and appoint a younger, promising leader in Shubman Gill.
Agarkar said the selectors didn’t want to keep three different captains for each format (Gill leads in ODIs, and Suryakumar Yadav in T20Is) and wanted Gill to have enough time in charge for the 2027 World Cup.
However, it’s not the first time that Rohit and Agarkar have been closely involved in the former’s sacking from leadership. Abhishek Nayar, a former teammate of the duo at Mumbai and an ex-batting coach for the Indian team, recently revealed how Rohit was once removed from stand-in captaincy because he was seen as ‘moody’. At that time, Agarkar was the leader, and Rohit was leading temporarily, but it only lasted two games.
“Not many people know this, but Rohit was removed from captaincy at the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team; we won that year, by the way,” Nayar said in a podcast show with Aashish Kaushik. “Ajit Agarkar was the captain. Then he got injured, and Rohit came in as stand-in captain for two games. Then they said ‘ye paagal hai’ (he is mad). That was the notion in Mumbai, that ‘cricketer unbelievable hai, but captain moody hai’ (he’s an unbelievable cricketer but too moody for a captain).”
And who took over when Rohit was removed and Agarkar was still injured? Nayar. The journey from captaining him as a youngster to joining Rohit-led Indian team’s staff gave Nayar a perspective about the white-ball legend’s growth as a leader.
“Ironically, I took over from him, and he played under me. When Ajit came back, Ajit was the captain, and I took over when he left. From that Rohit Sharma to now, oh god. I also told him I’m amazed by his vision and thought process, not only for the team but also for the individuals, which, for me, is special. He cares about Kuldeep Yadav, Shreyas Iyer… everyone. He has a role for everyone. When they don’t do it, so he gives them the stick, so there’s that accountability as well,” Nayar added.
