Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his sympathy for Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of the BCCI selection committee, while discussing the ongoing competition for spots in the Indian team. The recent exclusion of players like Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, and Ruturaj Gaikwad from India’s Champions Trophy squad, announced by captain Rohit Sharma and Agarkar, has sparked considerable debate. Agarkar has faced criticism for overlooking players who have been consistently performing well in domestic cricket.

“Yashasvi Jaiswal should be brought back into the T20I squad. He was part of the World Cup team, and he deserves to be the top-choice opener. Now, I don’t want to be the chairman of selectors or the team manager, but in the upcoming IPL season, if both Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad perform well, the selectors will have a tough decision to make. As fans of Indian cricket, we’re fortunate to have such a pool of talented players,” Ashwin said.

Ashwin, while recognizing the wealth of talented batters in India’s pool, acknowledged the difficulty of the selection role and admitted he wouldn’t want to be in Agarkar’s position.

He emphasized that moving forward, players who excel under pressure in crucial situations should be prioritized during selection for major tournaments.

“However, moving forward, it’s important that we focus on players’ performances under pressure, especially for big tournaments. We need to value those who rise to the occasion in crucial moments. In modern cricket, many players hit the ball beautifully, but right now, there’s no established parameter to measure that. It’s something we’ll need to develop, a framework for assessing how players handle pressure in key situations,” he added