Ajit Agarkar's tenure ends
New Delhi. The news of leave of Indian cricket team chief selector Ajit Agarkar has proved to be true. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not decided to extend his tenure. Gautam Gambhir, who has been the chief selector, shared a post in this regard. With the 2027 ODI World Cup around the corner, Agarkar was hoping for a final extension to his contract, but that did not happen due to his relationship with the BCCI soured.
Ajit Agarkar took over the responsibility of the selection committee in July 2023. During his tenure, India participated in the finals of four ICC trophies, winning three of them. Now BCCI has decided not to extend his tenure further. It is being told that there was a dispute regarding keeping Rohit Sharma in the team, due to which Agarkar quietly left his post. He led the selection committee on 16 September 2026 when they selected the squad for the home series against the West Indies. His tenure ended on 4 October.
Dear Ajit Bhai, an absolute honor 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 endeavors!!
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) October 7, 2026
BCCI has invited applications for the new selector. A day later, head coach Gautam Gambhir wrote an emotional message for Agarkar. He praised Agarkar's 'team first' approach, which was in line with Gambhir's thinking. Gambhir wrote, “Dear Ajit Bhai, it has been an honor to work with you. Those three ICC trophies are a testament to your faith. Team first and team always ahead. I must say history will do you more justice. Thank you for everything. My heartiest wishes for your future endeavours.”
The sentence 'History will do more justice to you' written in Gambhir's post attracts the most attention. Statistics alone don't tell the whole story. Three ICC trophies, two Asia Cups and reaching the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup are certainly the big achievements of his tenure. The hardest part of their job doesn't show up in the statistics. Within a year of taking over, he had to watch two of Indian cricket's leading players—Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma—step away from T20I cricket. Just a few months later, both of them retired from Test cricket as well. In such a situation, the selection committee was faced with the challenge of preparing new players.