Ravichandran Ashwin was one of the senior players phased out under Ajit Agarkar. He has now called Agarkar a very good chairman of selectors.
Ashwin said it on his YouTube show Ash Ki Baat on September 22, 2026, days after Agarkar told the BCCI he will not continue in the role.
“He had to phase out senior players; it cannot be easy. I was also one of the senior players who got phased out during his tenure, but still, I want to say that he has been a very good chairman of selectors.”
Ravichandran Ashwin, Ash Ki Baat, September 22, 2026
Agarkar informed the board just before the BCCI AGM that he does not wish to continue. His term ends on October 4.
Parthiv Patel is the leading name in the race to succeed him, and current selector Pragyan Ojha is also in contention. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said the board will “take the call at the right time.”
Praise from a dropped player sounds generous. What it really shows is a senior finally looking at his own exit from the selector’s side of the table.
Ashwin said much of the criticism aimed at Agarkar starts from the wrong place.
“Very often we talk from a place of ego or our personal relationships, but if you look at it honestly, we don’t put ourselves in their shoes. Ajit was looking for a next-generation team…”
Ravichandran Ashwin, Ash Ki Baat, September 22, 2026
The seniors who moved on during Agarkar’s tenure include Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli left Tests and T20Is in the same period and now play ODIs only.
“So in all honesty, I think his stint of chairman of selectors was a very good one.”
Ravichandran Ashwin, Ash Ki Baat, September 22, 2026
🔴AGARKAR WANTED THE NEXT GENERATION – BUT SOME PLAYERS COULDN’T ACCEPT IT🤯
🎙️: R Ashwin said we often look at selection decisions through our ego or personal relationships, instead of putting ourselves in the selector’s shoes.
He believes Ajit Agarkar was looking at the next… pic.twitter.com/RIJCKgReNd
— Sam (@cricsam02) September 22, 2026
Ashwin is not eligible for the chief selector’s post himself, so he is judging the job from outside it.
The praise carries weight because Ashwin has not always agreed with this panel. In July, he questioned the delay over Rohit and Kohli’s ODI future and said the call should have been communicated right after the Champions Trophy win in March 2025.
His verdict now backs the direction of Agarkar’s decisions, not their timing.
Insider Read
A senior player measures his place against his own record: the years of service, the matches he has won, the spells he remembers. By that measure, being left out never makes sense.
A selector asks a different question: who does this team need in three years? The two questions rarely give the same answer, and a player at the end of his career only hears the first. When Ashwin calls it ego, he is admitting he was once asking the wrong question.
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