Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra believes Ajit Agarkar, the recently appointed chairman of India’s senior men’s selection committee, has to take a few tough calls to make including deciding the future of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in the shortest format. However, they are not part of India’s squad for the upcoming T20I series against the West Indies and it is not clear whether it is because of workload management and injury or if they are no longer on the radar as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “Tough calls to be taken, honestly speaking. Why am I saying that? Rohit Sharma as a captain after 2023? Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul as T20 players, that’s a call the previous selectors have taken for sure but how do you go forward with that? Then when do you start phasing out the seniors? Phase out perhaps is a wrong word but phasing out means that you want to start moving in a different direction. So how will you do that? When will you do that? What will be the communication?”

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However, the selectors have left out Cheteshwar Pujara from the Test side as India will begin the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle with a two-match series against the West Indies as well. And Aakash Chopra feels Ajit Agarkar is capable of making some tough calls as well.

“I am expecting all that from Ajit. When Ajit was Mumbai’s selectors, something similar happened and that is why he probably had to resign in the end. He has got immense respect from his peers and he is the one who can take the tough calls. In my opinion, Indian cricket is at a stage where you will have to take quite a few tough calls in the next 12 months with regards to seniors – who, where, how and how much, how the roadmap ahead should be, how much do you invest in a particular youngster and the clarity of respecting first-class cricket,” Aakash Chopra concluded.