The last few months in Indian cricket has seen a lot of spotlight on chief selector Ajit Agarkar and other selectors in BCCI. Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir has been showing faith in the captaincy of a young star like Shubman Gill in Tests as well as ODI cricket, along with the induction of new talent like Dhruv Jurel among others. Former India captain Ajinkya Rahane has now emphasised the importance of good communication and a strong bond between selectors and players, as well as players not being afraid of selectors, for Indian cricket to thrive in the coming years.
“If the communication and the bond between the selectors and players is good. They know that. And players should not be afraid of selectors. That if I play this shot, then I will be out, or they will scold me, or you know they will get angry at me. Players should be on the ground playing with freedom. Playing fearless cricket,” Rahane said on his YouTube channel during a discussion with former India cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara.
With discussions underway about the career avenues for domestic and international cricketers after the end of their cricketing journeys, Rahane and Pujara were discussing the roles former cricketers can play in Indian cricket. While some choose to be coaches, with some becoming selectors, Rahane spoke about the need for having selectors who have played cricket recently. The former Indian vice-captain was of the view that selectors should know about what brand of cricket a cricketer plays and should not be thinking too far back.
“I believe that selectors should be such people, who it is possible in as many states, who have played cricket recently. Players who have taken retirement recently, like five-six years ago, seven-eight years ago. Because the way cricket is moving forward, I think it is very important for the mentality and mindset of selectors to match that. You don’t want to think far too back about what was happening 20-30 years ago? How was cricket being played? Cricket has come a long way now. We have seen that. Because of T20, IPL, you know cricketers what brand of cricket they want to play,” added Rahane.
In reply to Rahane’s thoughts on selectors, Pujara agreed about the need for selectors to be recently retired cricketers, but was of the view that a former cricketer, who retired long back, should not also be deprived of the chance. “In big states, this can be implemented because they have so many options. So, wherever possible, I do agree that it can be implemented, but that does mean that any past cricketer, who has got a great record and wants to be a selector now, should be deprived of the chance because he retired long back,” Pujara replied.
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