The All India Senior Selection Committee chief Ajit Agarkar has been under immense scrutiny ever since he has taken up the position. One of the most notable moves he made after his appointment as the chief selector was to make sure that the Indian cricketers feature in domestic tournaments for their respective states when not on national duty. Star batters Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer know this the best.
But what about Agarkar himself attending domestic games? Well, Agarkar, like every other boss,
has made himself as an exceptional case to the ruling. The last time the former Mumbai cricketer attended a Ranji game was during the 2024-25 season for the match between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. He had picked Devdutt Padikkal in the squad for the England series at home that year, after the batter made 151.
Apart from that though, it has been a long-time-no-see story for Agarkar and keeping an eye on domestic games himself. And the results, too, have reflected poorly. India have won only two out of the last six Test series that they have played, one against Bangladesh and the other against the West Indies. They have lost to New Zealand at home, lost to Australia, drew with England away, and were recently whitewashed by South Africans.
While the majority of the criticism went to head coach Gautam Gambhir and his coaching staff, Agarkar, too, should be held equally responsible for not picking Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran to bat at the No. 3 position after Sai Sudharsan had an okayish welcome to Test cricket, while the proven performers have been turned a blind eye towards.
A senior BCCI official was recently questioned regarding the behaviour of Agarkar to not be attending domestic cricket matches, while the cricketers are now under a diktat of sorts to feature for their state sides. The official backed Agarkar wholeheartedly, saying that the selectors can track matches on the BCCI app or website, which by the away, doesn't even stream all the matches of the most premier tournament.
"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 BCCI office bearer was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
However, this is not the first time that Agarkar has been under questionable clouds. During his time as the Mumbai chief selector, he was guilty of not having attended enough local games to pick the main squad, and was eventually forced to put his papers. The extreme criticism made it impossible for Agarkar to continue with the side, as the Mumbai Cricket Association had almost made up the mind to fire him.
Nonetheless, no position is secure when the world is watching, and the same applies to the BCC chief selector as well. He might be given a little more time before the inevitable step will be taken, given the results don't go the team's way.
