BCCI invites application for new selector after Ajit Agarkar's contract expires

Agarkar's tenure officially ended on October 4, 2026.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday (October 6) officially invited applications for one position on the Senior Men’s Selection Committee. This opening follows the expiration of chief selector Ajit Agarkar's contract last week.

In the meantime, former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has stepped up to lead the committee as the most experienced Test player among the remaining selectors, which includes Shiv Sundar Das, Ajay Ratra, and RP Singh.

“The member of the Men’s Selection Committee will be responsible for selecting the Senior National Men’s Team for representation in Tests, One Day Internationals, Twenty20 Internationals and any other format. The Committee will also play an important role in identifying talent and developing a strong bench strength for the Senior National Men’s Team,” the BCCI said in a media release.

The selected member will work alongside the existing panel to perform the following duties:

• Selecting the best possible Senior National Men’s Team in a fair and transparent manner, while identifying talent and developing a strong bench strength.
• Scouting and assessing players through domestic and international matches and contributing to the selection and development of the Senior National Men’s Team across formats.
• Attending team meetings and travelling to watch domestic and international matches, as required.
• Preparing and providing quarterly evaluation reports on the team’s performance to the Apex Council of BCCI.
• Addressing the media on team selection.
• Appointing the captain for the team in each format.

Qualifications & Eligibility Criteria:

• Should have played a minimum of 7 Test Matches; OR
• 30 First-Class Matches; OR
• 10 One Day International Matches and 20 First-Class Matches.
• Must have retired from the game at least five years previously.
• Any person who has been a member of any Cricket Committee, as defined in the Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations of the BCCI, for a cumulative period of five years will not be eligible to be a member of the Men’s Selection Committee

Interested candidates who fulfill the eligibility criteria can submit their applications via the official BCCI Application Link until 5:00 PM IST on October 14, 2026.

According to reports, the Ojha-led committee is set to meet this week to finalize the T20I, ODI, and Test squads for the upcoming New Zealand tour.

While Pragyan Ojha is a strong candidate to take over permanently, former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel has also emerged as a front-runner for the chief selector role.

Ajit Agarkar was appointed as the BCCI selection committee chief in 2023. His tenure brought immense white-ball success to the Indian team, including three ICC titles (2024 and 2026 T20 World Cups and 2025 Champions Trophy) and two Asia Cups.

While limited-overs success was unprecedented, the team’s graph went down considerably in the Test format, suffering clean sweeps at the hands of New Zealand and South Africa in home series.

The Agarkar-led panel also managed a major transition phase, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli stepping away from Tests and T20Is, alongside red-ball exits for Ravichandran Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane.