'Agarkar made mistakes in Indian team selection': Former India opener rates his tenure 7/10

MUMBAI: Former India opener Wasim Jaffer has given a rating of 7 out of 10 for the performance of Ajit Agarkar as chairman of the national cricket team's selection committee. While India enjoyed considerable success in the ODI and T20I formats during Agarkar's tenure, Jaffer believes the selection committee could have handled certain players better. He shared his views on his YouTube channel.

Jaffer highlighted India's major achievements during Agarkar's tenure, including winning two World Cups, the Asia Cup and the Champions Trophy. However, he pointed out shortcomings in the way certain players were treated by the selection committee.

One of his main concerns was the uncertainty surrounding Indian pacer Mohammed Shami's place in the team. He also questioned the decision to drop Suryakumar Yadav from the team after India's T20 World Cup triumph and the failure to give Bhuvneshwar Kumar opportunities in T20I cricket.

Jaffer also said the selection committee's decisions regarding Sarfaraz Khan, Auqib Nabi and Abhimanyu Easwaran deserved scrutiny. Despite India's achievements under Agarkar, he felt the selectors should have shown greater clarity in handling players.

The former cricketer also expressed dissatisfaction with the way discussions surrounding senior players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's futures were handled. He questioned the decision to remove Rohit from the captaincy after he had led India to the Champions Trophy title.

Jaffer also referred to the consideration of Shreyas Iyer for the captaincy following his performances in the IPL. Describing Agarkar as someone who speaks his mind and is not afraid to take tough decisions, Jaffer said some of those decisions could have been handled better.