New Delhi:Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar was on Tuesday appointed as chairman of senior selection committee after a recommendation from the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) headed by Ashok Malhotra. "The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), consisting of Ms Sulakshana Naik, Mr Ashok Malhotra, and Mr Jatin Paranjape, interviewed applicants for the position of one selector in the Men's Selection Committee. The three-member CAC has unanimously recommended Mr Ajit Agarkar for the said position," Shah said in a media release.
"The committee further recommended Mr Agarkar for the role of Chairperson of the Men's Selection Committee based on seniority (total number of Test matches)." A 191 ODI veteran, Agarkar also appeared in 26 Test matches and four T20Is. He has been part of World Cups spanning 1999, 2003 and 2007 in ODI and was also in the squad of 2007 T20 World Cup winning team helmed by MS Dhoni.
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Being a strike bowler for India, Agarkar shone with the bat too with a century at Lord's. He played a crucial part in India's victory in Adelaide in 2004 against the mighty Australians where he dismissed six batters to win the game for his team. With power striking becoming a regular tempo of the game, Agarkar still holds the record for the fastest half-century by an Indian batter in the ODI format where he took just 21 balls to reach the record against Zimbabwe back in 2000. Another record held by him was the fastest to reach 50 ODI wickets for nearly a decade that came in 23 matches.
It is understood that BCCI wants to get done with formality of appointment as Agarkar, after taking over, will chair the selection committee meeting for the T20I squad that will play five games in the West Indies later this week. "Agarkar is the only candidate who appeared for interview. It was a virtual one as he is currently abroad on a family break," a BCCI source informed PTI. According to sources, there aren't any notable name from North Zone, who is big enough in stature to take over the coveted post. That is the reason why BCCI will be breaking its age-old convention of appointing one selector from each of the five zones.
Agarkar's appointment will mean that West Zone will have two selectors with Salil Ankola being the other one. The others are Subroto Banerjee from Central Zone, S Sharath from South and SS Das from East. (With inputs, source quotes from PTI)
