Jadeja's comment on chief selector post fuels talk of rift after Agarkar's exit

Ravindra Jadeja's comment has drawn attention in cricket circles as soon as Ajit Agarkar left the post of chief selector. Jadeja commented on X on a post about the BCCI chief selector's position and asked about the application process. It has led people to feel that all was not as well as it appeared on the surface.

No open difference ever surfaced between Jadeja and Agarkar. Even so, Jadeja's place in the ODI team remained uncertain throughout Agarkar's tenure. After the heavy defeat at the 2022 T20 World Cup, Agarkar brought in a policy of promoting young players in the T20 team. But just before the 2024 T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jadeja returned to the side, and India won the World Cup. Right after winning the title, all three veterans retired from the T20 format.

In ODIs, Jadeja had to sit out. During Agarkar's tenure he was left out of the ODI series against Sri Lanka in 2024 and against Australia in 2025. Agarkar kept saying that Jadeja is an important part of the ODI team. But his decisions never showed that he considered Jadeja part of the team. Jadeja has also always felt this. Going by his comment now, it does not appear that all was ever well between the two.

Jadeja's hurt has surfaced before. During the Test series against the West Indies, ahead of the Australia tour, he was asked about being kept out of the ODI team. He spoke plainly then. Jadeja said, "Selection is not in my hands. I certainly have to play. In the end, the team management, the selection committee, the coach and the captain have their own view, and they will have their own reasons for not picking me for this series. They had spoken to me, so I was not surprised when the team was announced."

Jadeja is not counted among those who are very active on social media. Earlier this year, in February, he had reacted to a post by Ravichandran Ashwin about Nepal cricket. His sudden appearance on the BCCI chief selector post and his question about the application process suggest that his experience under Agarkar's tenure was not particularly good.