Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin believes communication could’ve been better under Ajit Agarkar’s tenure as chief selector. Ashwin reckons Agarkar could have communicated better with him, along with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, when they decided to retire from Test format.
Ashwin announced his Test retirement during the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia whereas Kohli and Rohit decided to call time on their red-ball career in May 2025.
Ashwin admitted that the selector’s job is not easy and Agarkar was trying to do his job.
Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “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 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.”
“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.”
Agarkar’s tenure as chief selector will end on October 4.
On the other hand, Ashwin defended Agarkar and said he is often criticised easily by the media and fans.
“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,” said Ashwin (via the aforementioned source).
Under Agarkar’s stint, India won two T20 World Cups and the 2025 Champions Trophy.
