The night before India announced their T20 World Cup squad, everything pointed to no surprises. This team had thrived on continuity. The squad would reflect that.
Then, in the selection meeting in Mumbai, chief selector Ajit Agarkar put a question on the table that nobody saw coming. It was about Shubman Gill.
The same committee had picked Gill out of nowhere for the Asia Cup six months earlier. That move had never quite worked — it had pushed Sanju Samson down the order, disrupted the fearlessness the team had built, introduced an anchor into a team built specifically to eliminate anchors. The decision had already invited scrutiny.
Shreyas Iyer had just finished a sensational IPL and his exclusion had seemed inexplicable to many. To reverse the Gill call meant not just logic but admission. And something else — the team management had wanted Gill. Agarkar showed them the mirror.
Agarkar reversed it — and explained it plainly. “Your opinion could differ from mine,” he said. “We still think he’s a quality player. Someone has to miss out, it’s him — it’s not because he’s not a good player. Fortunately in Indian cricket we have options.”
India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir, left, Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar, center, and India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav talks during a practice session ahead of the T20 World Cup cricket final match against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, India, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
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This wasn’t the first time he had asked a question the room wasn’t ready for.
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Months earlier, Agarkar had floated an idea that surprised even his own colleagues: look beyond Hardik Pandya for the T20 captaincy. Pandya was captain-in-waiting. The succession had seemed settled.
The meeting was a divided house. Agarkar voted for Suryakumar. According to those in the know, he pulled up colleagues — Subrato Banerjee, S Sharath, Salil Ankola, SS Das — who didn’t see merit in his choice. His reasoning, when he stated it publicly, was typically direct.
“One of the main issues discussed was that you want a captain who’s likely to play all the games,” he said. “We think he is a deserving candidate.”
The room came around. Suryakumar got the captaincy. What followed is known.
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Ishan Kishan’s return was the third call that required conviction over comfort.
Ishan had taken a flight from South Africa in late 2023 seeking a mental break — a decision that hadn’t sat well with the panel. He had been slow to return to domestic cricket. His reluctance to join the Test tour of England citing a minor injury hadn’t helped. But last season he went back, scored heavily, with the selectors keeping close watch. When Gill’s replacement was being discussed, Ishan wasn’t the first name on the list — Jitesh Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal were ahead of him in the queue.
Agarkar made the case and then made it public.
“He bats at the top in white-ball cricket. He has been in good form. He has played before for India,” he said. “He wasn’t in the Indian team because there were Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel ahead of him — two pretty good players. Nothing to do with anything else.”
Agarkar didn’t let past instances crowd out present merit. Ishan was in.
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These were not isolated calls. Agarkar had form.
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India were being whitewashed at home in Tests. Embarrassed in Australia. Rohit Sharma’s batting had deteriorated to the point where he dropped himself from the Sydney Test in January. Kohli’s failings against spin, against pace outside off stump, had been going on longer — without a cure in sight.
India have won three ICC titles in three years. In each of them, the selectors’ role has been vital — and rarely noticed. (ANI)
In Tests, with results not coming, Indian cricket had to move past its stars — respectfully, but firmly. Rohit didn’t budge. Agarkar’s panel nudged him out before the England tour. Kohli stepped away from Tests shortly after. The aftermath proved the decision right. Kohli came back hungry, slamming centuries in ODIs at home. Rohit got fitter, returned to domestic cricket, and is starring again in the fifty-over format.
On their futures, Agarkar was measured. “They are not on trial,” he said. “They’ve achieved all they had to achieve. It’s still a long way away — we’ll see how the team shapes up, but we have some ideas.”
In a culture built around star worship, where selectors have historically looked away rather than act, Agarkar did the hardest thing available to him. He saw it through.
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He changed the culture in other ways too.
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For years, selectors had not spoken to the media after announcing squads. Agarkar brought back press conferences — sat down, took the hard questions, answered them. Misinterpretations could still rise — they always do — but at least his reasoning was on record.
He also mandated that available players would play domestic cricket. The results were visible — not just in the competitiveness of Rohit and Kohli, now playing one format each, but in something more specific. Hardik Pandya bowled regularly through the T20 World Cup without concern. Match conditions in domestic cricket had made it possible.
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When Gambhir laid down his blueprint, it needed selectors who would align rather than resist. Agarkar had been associated with Delhi Capitals and understood how far franchise T20 cricket had moved. S Sharath and Subroto Banerjee, part of the panel until September, laid groundwork the remaining four built upon.
India have won three ICC titles in three years. In each of them, the selectors’ role has been vital — and rarely noticed. In the dressing room after the T20 World Cup final, Gambhir made a point of saying it publicly. “I think I should dedicate this trophy to Ajit Agarkar, because he does take a lot of flak and I’m thankful for the amount of honesty he’s worked with.”
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The questions nobody saw coming. Each time, answered correctly.
—— With inputs from Devendra Pandey
