On Friday, former Indian speedster Ajit Agarkar, confirmed that he has joined the race for the national selector’s job and according to multiple reports, the erstwhile pacer is currently the front-runner for the chairman’s post. Meanwhile Venkatesh Prasad, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan have also applied for the senior selector’s post.
After national selector MSK Prasad’s tenure ended this week, the BCCI set January 24 as the last-date of application for the vacant position. But with 26 Tests, 191 ODIs and 3 T20 Internationals under his belt while picking 349 wickets across all formats, it appears that the 42-year-old Mumbaikar is definitely one of the favourites to land the job.
Agarkar, who has seen his fair share of success with the ‘Men in Blues’, remains India’s third highest wicket-taker in ODIs (behind Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath) with 288 wickets. He was the quickest Indian to reach 50 wickets in white-ball cricket, taking only 23 games to achieve the feat. Agarkar also holds the record for the fastest half-century by an Indian in ODIs (50 in 21 balls), and also for scoring 5 consecutive ducks (including two pairs) in tests against Australia. However, for the latter ‘rare feat’, Agarkar earned himself the nickname “Bombay Duck”.
“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 nomination as a chairman of selectors is a given, will now think again. It will be every interesting to see who all are short-listed,” a BCCI official stated.
Here’s a list of some high-profile candidates who have applied:
Ajit Agarkar (Mumbai)
Venkatesh Prasad (Karnataka)
Chetan Sharma (Haryana)
Nayan Mongia (Baroda)
Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (Tamil Nadu)
Rajesh Chauhan (Madhya Pradesh)
Amey Khurasiya (Madhya Pradesh)
Gyanendra Pandey (Uttar Pradesh)
Pritam Gandhe (Vidarbha)
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