Former England pacer Steve Harmison has slammed India’s chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, for his cut-throat remarks on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s ODI future ahead of the Men in Blue’s tour to Australia, starting October 19.
In the press conference in Ahmedabad last week where he announced the appointment of Shubman Gill as the new ODI captain, replacing Rohit, Agarkar remarked that the both senior members of the squad remained non-committal to the 2027 ODI World Cup. Agarkar also said it was imperative that the players feature in domestic cricket when available to remain in contention. Both Rohit and Kohli have not featured in a competitive match since the IPL 2025 season and last turned up for India during the Champions Trophy final in Dubai in March.
Harmson, however, said the tone of Agarkar’s messaging could eventually land him in choppy waters.
“Unfortunately I think there might be a messy end for Ajit Agarkar there. If anybody is going to win here I think it is the former captains rather than the former all-rounder. But it all depends on, if Agarkar is saying this, just to fuel the fire of Kohli and Sharma, then fair enough. You put your cards on the table and see what comes,” he said on talkSPORT Cricket.
Harmison reckoned the road to the next ODI World Cup could be relatively easier for Kohli than Rohit, who is one year his senior.
“I think Kohli has got a little bit of skin in the game. Runs in the bank, his reputation. Sharma, not as much. Sharma’s a little bit older. He’s not been as influential in 50-over cricket as Virat has. If Virat turns around and says, ‘All right, you go to the 50-over World Cup without me and leading up to it, let’s see when you’re chasing 350 in 50 overs to win against Australia or England, and you haven’t got that bloke who averages 90 winning games at number four, see where your teams at’. There could be a messy end in that way. There could also be words that have been misunderstood in translation,” he added.
“He might just have said I want them to play because they are not going to be playing. That’s the problem. They’re not playing Test cricket, they’re not playing T20 cricket. They’re only going to play the IPL. And if 50-over cricket is at the back end of the year, not when the IPL is, we could do with them playing a couple of domestic games. That could possibly be the way it was put across by Agarkar and it has been blown out of proportion,” remarked Harmison.
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