Will ‘history be kinder’ to Ajit Agarkar? A look at ex-chief selector’s eventful tenure

"I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the Opposition parties in Parliament."

On January 3, 2014, in his last press conference as prime minister, noted economist and Congress leader Manmohan Singh said these famous lines. Interestingly, it was also the last full-fledged press conference by an Indian PM.

Twelve years later, Indian men’s cricket team head coach and former BJP MP, Gautam Gambhir, borrowed Singh’s words to pay tribute to the outgoing chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar. He praised the former India pacer’s strong belief in putting the "team first", which saw the Team India winning three ICC trophies under his leadership.

In a social media post, Gambhir wrote: "Dear Ajit Bhai, an absolute honour to work with you. Those 3 ICC trophies are testimony of your conviction: Team first & Team ahead, always.. I must say, History will be kinder to you. Thank you for everything. My heartfelt wishes for your future endeavours!!"

Agarkar’s term as chief selector ended last month, with the BCCI officially beginning the search for his replacement by inviting applications for the position on Tuesday.

The highs of Agarkar’s tenure

During Agarkar’s stint, India won the T20 World Cup in both 2024 and 2026, as well as the 2025 Champions Trophy. He also oversaw a major transitional phase for the team, which included the T20 and Test retirements of cricketing legends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. India also won the 2023 and 2026 Asia Cup titles and the Asian Games gold in 2023.

He was also instrumental in promising youngsters such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel getting a solid run and establishing themselves in the national set-up. The Agarkar-Gambhir duo also redefined Team India’s T20 DNA, adopting an attacking mindset instead of the earlier conservative approach.

Agarkar also made Ranji Trophy participation mandatory for fit national players who were not on international duty, thus bringing the domestic cricket structure into focus and also sending a strong message to young players that IPL stardom alone would not guarantee a spot in the national team.

Agarkar developed a reputation for being ruthless in his decision-making. He remained non-committal about whether Kohli and Rohit featured in the selection plans for the upcoming 2027 ODI World Cup.

The controversial moments

Agarkar’s selection committee oversaw a difficult transition in India's Test setup. They moved on from veterans like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane and gradually curtailed Ravichandran Ashwin's role away from spin-friendly conditions. Agarkar prioritised giving a long, consistent run to younger players such as Shubman Gill and Jaiswal, shifting away from reputation-based selections to build the next generation.

The decision on Rohit was probably the biggest call during his tenure. Following an ODI at Lord's, Agarkar's committee decided to move on from the ‘Hitman’ in white-ball cricket. South Zone selector Pragyan Ojha (a close friend of Rohit) was asked to communicate the decision to the skipper. Rohit, who has not given up his dream of playing the 2027 ODI World Cup, was not pleased and took up the matter with a powerful BCCI administrator. The Board subsequently intervened, issuing an official public statement backing Rohit and dismissing talks of his retirement. This publicly undermined the selection committee's authority, leaving Agarkar reportedly "slighted and angry", which was a trigger for his exit.

Also, in early 2024, Agarkar strictly enforced a new directive making domestic cricket participation mandatory for all fit, centrally contracted players not on national duty. When Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer skipped Ranji Trophy despite being cleared of major injuries, Agarkar’s committee axed them from the BCCI's annual central contracts list. The decision sent shockwaves through Indian cricket. Both players were eventually brought back into the fold later in his tenure only after adhering to the committee’s parameters.

Another point of friction was the appointment of Suryakumar Yadav over Hardik Pandya as India’s T20 skipper following Rohit's retirement from the format after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Vice-captain Pandya was the logical heir apparent to the captaincy. Instead, Agarkar appointed Yadav as the permanent T20I captain, citing Pandya’s ongoing fitness struggles and workload management as the reasons. He said that they wanted a captain who was available to play every game. Interestingly, later in his tenure, Agarkar's committee also made the bold decision to drop Yadav entirely from the T20I squad weeks after he led India to the 2026 T20 World Cup title.

Agarkar also faced severe public backlash for leaving finisher Rinku Singh out of the 15-man squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup, relegating him to the reserves. Later, during the 2026 T20 World Cup, his committee made the massive call to drop an out-of-form Shubman Gill from the squad.

He also had clashes with VVS Laxman, the head of the National Cricket Academy / Centre of Excellence (CoE), over policy issues. Laxman reportedly questioned the need to send an overly strong squad to the Asian Games, while Agarkar insisted on it.

Agarkar was also upset when India 'A' red-ball matches were scheduled on top of the domestic Irani Cup. He also openly criticised the CoE's player rehabilitation timelines and handling of injury updates, arguing that his committee was frequently left in the dark about player availability.

Manmohan Singh’s words were proved right in due course. Only time will tell if Agarkar’s tenure will have the same fate.