Former India cricket captain Ajinkya Rahane has argued for significant changes to the domestic cricket selection process, stating that selectors should be limited to recently retired players.
In a YouTube discussion on Cheteshwar Pujara’s channel, Rahane emphasized the need of having selectors who can help players perform freely while also understanding the changing nature of modern cricket.
Rahane's approach aims to improve Indian cricket's selection method, particularly at the domestic level. Selectors who have left in the last five to eight years, he believes, will be better equipped to understand the needs of modern cricket.
"Players should not be scared of selectors. I want to talk about selectors, especially in domestic cricket. We should have selectors who have retired recently from playing top-flight cricket, those who retired five or six years ago, and those who retired seven or eight years ago.
Because of the way cricket is evolving, I think it's very important that the mentality and mindset of the selectors match that and keep pace with the change. The game is evolving. We don't want to make decisions based on how cricket was played 20-30 years ago. With formats like T20 and the IPL, it's important to understand the style of modern cricket players,” Rahane said on Pujara’s YouTube channel.
Rahane would want to see more national team selectors with some T20 experience and knowledge of the contemporary game, especially at the domestic level, as indicated by Ajit Agarkar and the recently hired Pragyan Ojha.
However, Pujara issued a caution for adopting Rahane's proposal, which would punish past players and selectors for their expertise and erase the wealth of information that comes with tenure in the position.
"In big states this can be implemented because they have so many options. So, wherever possible, I do agree that it can be implemented, but that does not mean that any past cricketer who has got a great record and wants to be a selector now should be deprived of the chance because he retired long back," said Pujara.
