“Ajit Agarkar’s Fiery Response: Questions Sanju Samson’s Absence from ODI Squad”

Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar, now the chairman of the BCCI selection committee, faced challenging questions during a press conference on Monday. Speaking alongside head coach Gautam Gambhir before the team’s departure to Sri Lanka, Agarkar was questioned more about the players left out of the squad than those included. Addressing the omissions of Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Abhishek Sharma, Agarkar emphasized the difficulty of fitting everyone into a 15-man roster.

Despite strong performances during India’s tour of Zimbabwe, with Abhishek and Gaikwad excluded from the entire Sri Lanka tour and Samson not making the ODI team despite his recent century, Agarkar defended the selections. He remarked, “Every player who’s left out feels hard done by. Our challenge is to pick only 15. You try and get the best balance possible. So someone’s likely to miss out. Sometimes, they have had decent performances in recent times but you’ve got to see who is picked ahead of them. Are those guys not deserving of their place? If that’s the case, then there are things to discuss.”

Agarkar also pointed to the example of Rinku Singh, who wasn’t included in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad despite his excellent form, to justify the exclusion of some players. “We had an opportunity to give some of those guys a go in the Zimbabwe series, which was good. So, we have enough depth if tomorrow there is loss of form for the players that are playing or there are injuries,” he added.

“But it’s tough. I mean Rinku for no fault of his missed out from the World Cup, it’s an example. He had a terrific [run in the] T20 leading up to the World Cup. But sometimes it’s just the way it goes. Unfortunately for us as well, it is difficult to fit everyone in the fifteen,” Agarkar explained.