Reports: Ajit Agarkar emerges front-runner to replace MSK Prasad as the national selector

Former India bowling all-rounder Ajit Agarkar on Friday entered the fray for the national selector’s job and is a frontrunner for the post of the committee’s chairman. The 42-year-old is a former chairman of the Mumbai senior selection committee and is in the race for the chairman’s post since the new constitution doesn’t have provisions for the zonal system.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has set January 24 as the deadline for sending applications for the post and Agarkar, who quit cricket in 2013 after playing for India between 1998 and 2007, is a high-profile applicant. The former Mumbai cricketer has played 26 Tests, 191 ODIs and three T20Is, taking 349 international wickets in all. He was a wicket-taking bowler in his playing days even though proved to be expensive at times.

Ajit Agarkar is one of the most prominent names

In the ODIs, Agarkar has a tally of 288 wickets, third only after Anil Kumble (334) and Javagal Srinath (315) among the Indians. He was the quickest to take 50 ODI wickets, reaching the club in only 23 games. He also has a Test century with the bat and scored a 21-ball fifty in the ODIs.

“Ajit entering the fray is an interesting development. He is someone who would have put in a lot of thought before applying. If anyone thought that Siva’s (Laxman Sivaramakrishnan) nomination as a chairman of selectors is a given will now think again. It will be interesting to see who all are short-listed,” the TOI cited agencies as quoting a senior BCCI official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Whoever is selected will succeed former India wicket-keeper-batsman MSK Prasad. “BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on the first day had spoken about transparency. If the intent is correct and the heart is in right place, why do we need to have zonal biases and follow the convention?” the official asked.

Besides Agarkar and Sivaramakrishnan, other prominent names to have applied include former India players Nayan Mongia, Chetan Sharma and Rajesh Chauhan.

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