India's 15-member squad for the Asia Cup 2025 was announced on Tuesday, August 19. The selection has created a lot of buzz in the Indian cricketing circles, and the chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, is facing some severe criticism.
However, almost all chief selectors over the years have faced criticism, and it is a part of their job where they are required to make some tough decisions. Now, it has been reported that BCCI has increased the tenure of Ajit Agarkar till June 2026, giving their vote of confidence in his decision-making.
Syed Kirmani Became First Chief Selector In 2002
Thus, in this article, we look at the full list of all the chairman of selectors of the Indian men's team. It all started with Syed Kirmani taking over the chief selector role first in 2002. Under his selection committee, the Indian team played the final of the World Cup 2003.
Kiran More was then made the chief selector in 2004, and he was involved in a bold decision of dropping the then captain Sourav Ganguly from the team. He stayed at the top for two years till 2006, and Dilip Vengsarkar was named as his successor.
The former Indian cricketer was the chairman of selectors from 2006 to 2008. In his tenure, India were eliminated from the group stage of the 50-over 2007 World Cup but won the T20 World Cup in the same year. Then came Kris Srikkanth, who stayed as chief selector for four years, and in his tenure, India won the World Cup 2011.
Name
Term
Syed Kirmani
2002–2004
Kiran More
2004–2006
Dilip Vengsarkar
2006–2008
Kris Srikkanth
2008–2012
Sandeep Patil
2012–2016
M. S. K. Prasad
2016–2020
Sunil Joshi (cricketer)
2020
Chetan Sharma
2020–2023
Shiv Sunder Das (interim)
2023
Ajit Agarkar
2023–present
MSK Prasad, Sandeep Patil Guide India As Chief Selectors In 2nd Decade Of 21st Century
Sandeep Patil took over from his former teammate in 2012 and was at the helm of the selection committee til 2016. M.S.K. Prasad then became the chief selector, and he came under a lot of criticism after the 2019 World Cup selection for omitting Ambati Rayudu and selecting Vijay Shankar.
Sunil Joshi then took over the role for some time, but it was Chetan Sharma who carried the responsibility from 2020 to 2023, a tenure which included a captaincy shift from Virat Kohli to Rohit Sharma. Shiv Sunder Das was then made interim chief for some time, and Ajit Agarkar took over the role from July 4 2023. He was scheduled to stay till 2025 initially, but will now stay till 2026, according to reports.
Thus, Ajit Agarkar is the 10th chief selector for India since 2002. The role has been donned by former Indian cricketers, and along with criticism, they have also enjoyed some accolades.
Ajit Agarkar with Virat Kohli (AFP)
