TOI Sports Desk
They clarified certain difficult decisions, but in other cases, they were vague enough to leave room for interpretations.
Although neither Gambhir nor Agarkar are particularly large on the outside, anyone in the Indian cricket community will attest to the fact that these are two well-observed, intelligent people whose opinions don’t easily shift.
They appeared to be prepared to back up their words as they presented a united front at their first joint press appearance.
Although Agarkar is officially starting his second year as chairman, this is actually a fresh start for both of them, much like it is for Gambhir, where they can work together to develop a plan for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
What did one learn most from the joint news conference between Gambhir and Agarkar prior to their Sri Lankan tour?
The largest one appears to be workload management.
Indian cricket’s thorny word will once more control the air, but this time, it’s obvious that the rules for bowlers and hitters will differ.
“I’ve said it before, workload management for someone like (Jasprit) Bumrah is important. If you are a batter who is in good form, might as well play all the games,” Gambhir was as straight as ramrod in his reply when asked about his take on the issue, according to PTI.
Although it was widely anticipated that ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma and top batsman Virat Kohli would miss the three matches in Sri Lanka, their attendance ultimately suggests that both seniors will likely play as many series as feasible.
“Now that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will play only two formats, I expect them to be available for most games,” Gambhir addressed the issue with a lot of clarity just like chairman Agarkar was up and ready to explain what went against Hardik Pandya, who was considered to be a natural successor to Rohit, at least in the T20 format.
“You (would) want a captain that’s going to be more likely to play all the games,” one couldn’t get a more crystal clear answer to a pointed question.
What was even more encouraging was that, in contrast to previous selection committee chairs, Agarkar considered the view of the changing room in addition to his instincts on leadership abilities.
“”Why Surya was made captain? Because he is one of the deserving candidates. The one we know has been around the dressing room over the last one year, you get feedback from the dressing room a lot.
“He has got a good cricketing brain and he is still one of the best T20 batters in the world,” Agarkar elaborated.
One point was made repeatedly during the 27-minute press conference. Stars can’t just pick and choose anymore.
Pandya’s skill set is rare, and Agarkar acknowledged that, but he also made it clear that the selection committee is not to be taken for granted.
“Fitness, obviously, has been a challenge for him over the last few years and then it becomes a little bit more difficult for him and even as selectors,” he said.
With same elegance, Agarkar addressed the difficult question about KL Rahul being passed up for captaincy.
“I wasn’t there when KL was superseded; I wasn’t the selector firstly.”
Subsequently, the Duleep Trophy came up, and Agarkar made it quite evident that the majority of Indian Test squad candidates, if not all of them, will participate in at least one match of the competition prior to the start of India’s unprecedented 10-Test season on September 19.
Regarding Ravindra Jadeja, Agarkar clarified that the veteran all-around player was not removed from the ODI squad; nevertheless, his justification did suggest that two players with very similar skill sets might not be included in an ODI lineup.
“It would have been really pointless to take both him and Akshar for this short series…So, no, not at all dropped,” he said on Jadeja.
After that, Gambhir had to face the unspoken but significant topic of speculation regarding his connection with Kohli, which the straight shooter dismissed as “good for TRP.”
Although Gambhir may come across as a “My Way or High Way” kind of guy, his message was that he wanted to be the one who made sure everyone in the dressing room was pleased.
And what qualifies as a happy dressing room?
“A winning dressing room,” as Gambhir put it.