Retired Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has expressed that he wouldn’t want to take on the role of chairman of selectors due to the tough decisions it involves. He sympathized with current chief selector Ajit Agarkar, who has faced criticism over selections for the Australian Test tour and the Champions Trophy.
India excluded senior pacer Mohammed Siraj from their 15-member provisional squad for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, and there was also no spot for Vidarbha batter Karun Nair, who scored 779 runs in eight innings with an impressive average of 389.50 and a strike rate of 124.04 in the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin acknowledged that he wouldn’t want to be in Agarkar’s position. The spin legend shared his thoughts:
“I mean, I don’t want to be the chairman of selectors or team manager or be in this decision-making position.”
Explaining why the chairman of selectors has a challenging role, the Tamil Nadu stalwart added:
“In the upcoming IPL season, if both [Shubman] Gill and Ruturaj [Gaikwad] score runs, it’s going to be a problem of plenty (for the selectors). As fans of the Indian cricket team, we are blessed to have a pool of such talented players.”
“Consider players who perform well under pressure” – Ashwin’s advice to Team India selectors
Although Ashwin is not interested in becoming a selector, he offered advice to the BCCI selection committee. The former India off-spinner emphasized the importance of giving more consideration to players who excel under pressure. Ashwin explained:
“Going forward, we must ensure that whatever the performances are, we will have to focus on pressure parameters for a big tournament. We will have to give some weightage to players who do well under pressure. Because, in modern cricket, there are plenty of talented players who time the ball very well.”
Ashwin has been honored with the Padma Shri for his immense contribution to Indian cricket, with 287 wickets across formats and 765 total wickets at an average of 25.80.
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