Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and now Shubman Gill: How Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar consistently rejected star-culture

Shubman Gill walks off the field after bowled out by South Africa’s Marco Jansen during the third T20I cricket match between India and South Africa in Dharamshala. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

In a nation deeply ingrained in VIP culture – where rush-hour traffic stands still for cars with beacons, hospitals have dedicated counters and queues for the privileged and highway toll booths exempt the elite – cricket challenged this entrenched ethos of entitlement.

There can be an argument about these big selection decisions. Without doubt, they qualify to be called contentious. The chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar and coach Gautam Gambhir can be hauled over the coals and even motives be ascribed to their selection choices.

But as the year winds down and the focus shifts from the many tiny pixels that hit the eyes in these past 12 months, a clearer bigger picture emerges. What had seemed like a storm might well be the refreshing winds of change.

When Virat and Rohit were left out of the Test squad for the England tour, tongues wagged. This was seen as a Gambhir-orchestrated coup that was fully supported by Agarkar. There was a ring of believability to the grand conspiracy theories that floated around.

When Virat and Rohit were left out of the Test squad for the England tour, tongues wagged. (File Photo)

Gambhir and Virat had a past, there were visuals to back the alleged acrimony between them. The new coach was getting rid of seniors to command a dressing room that had a young captain in Gill – it was a popular assumption, even if false, and didn’t sound outlandish.

During that time of upheaval and outrage, few spoke about Virat and Rohit’s long Test slump. Their numbers were dismal but when are facts allowed to spoil a great cricket story with intrigue? Now when Gill, the new superstar, too missed the World T20 because of an extended run-drought, Agarkar and Gambhir can charge their critics, saying that they use the same yardstick while picking players or stars for the Indian cricket teams.

Strong decision-makers

In the early days of the Agarkar-Gambhir partnership, many predicted fireworks. In Mumbai, they call Agarkar “Tiger.” First as a player and later as state selector, he wasn’t known to suffer fools or players with starry-tantrums. He has had a long association with the great Sachin Tendulkar. Agarkar also hangs out with Indian cricket’s coolest crowd – Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh being his close friends.

Gambhir too played his cricket in the Fab Four era. He has been the miraculously gifted Virender Sehwag’s long-time opening partner. A passionate player, Gambhir hasn’t just seen greatness from such close quarters but has also witnessed the vulnerability of greats in crunch games.

A two-time ICC tournament winner, Gambhir had top-scored in both the finals that India won. He had taken on the opposition when the big guns failed. Besides, Gambhir’s life-long obsession to dismantle Indian cricket’s star culture is too well-known.

With such back stories, it was unlikely that Agarkar and Gambhir would have got overwhelmed by the presence of Rohit, Virat or Gill during team meetings. Both had seen enough legends elder to them from up-close to get dazed by younger stars. One bowler, another batsman, one from Mumbai, another from Delhi, the contrasting characters had one common ground – they weren’t the kind who would get star-struck.

In the recent past, India hasn’t had such strong decision-makers. They were light-weights happy to indulge the stars. That was the reason, the stars of the team had a free run.

Captains, read Virat Kohli, were allowed to pick the team’s coach, as in Ravi Shastri replacing Anil Kumble. MS Dhoni avoided the sack as Test captain despite his team’s horrific record. Selector Mohinder Amarnath tried but he couldn’t put his foot down. He was over-ruled by the then BCCI president N Srinivasan.

From Kapil Dev to Virat Kohli, stars got a long rope since selectors were not bold enough to take unpopular decisions. Agarkar and Gambhir, despite living in times of brutal social media trolling and traumatic personal attacks, have taken those tough calls.

A selector and coach can never be flawless in the decision-making but they have shown two rare qualities – conviction and consistency. And this has helped them to look fair: the prime virtue of any decision-maker.

So is this the beginning of the end of cricket’s star-culture? That’s wishful thinking. If not 2026, 2027 will decide that. It’s the year of the ODI World Cup and time to take the final call on the international careers of Rohit and Virat.