Former India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik believes all is not right between head coach Gautam Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar. The recent T20I debacles against Ireland and England have led to Gambhir facing a lot of flak. Adding fuel to the fire, there is also a lot of talk about the treatment meted out to Sanju Samson and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi during the UK tour. The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi was expected to make his debut in Ireland, but it wasn’t meant to be as Samson retained his place in the playing XI.
However, three failures were all it took for Samson to be benched and Sooryavanshi to be tried out. But the youngster too failed to replicate his IPL form as he was in for a rude awakening. Sooryavanshi was then dropped for the fifth and final T20I against England, leading to Samson regaining his place.
Karthik weighed in on the game of musical chairs being played out between Samson and Sooryavanshi, saying that, looking at it from afar, it seems Agarkar and Gambhir want completely different things, and hence confusion arose in selecting the playing XI.
“A bit of friction between the chief selector and head coach. I feel Agarkar has long-term plans, and the current coach is saying, “You know, I want to win every game I play.” Hence, the confusion we see unfolding before us. Is it ideal for the players? Definitely not,” Karthik said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
“I mean, if you are from India, imagine the bench strength you have? Everyone is thinking that if I have a couple of bad games, anyone can replace me. On top of that, this happens, it’s definitely a situation that India needs to be aware of and rectify as soon as possible,” he added.
‘Eye on the future’
Karthik also claimed that Agarkar may have his eyes on the future, while Gambhir wants to win every game. He further stated that the BCCI needs to get its house in order if the confusion is to be done away with in the future.
“I think the chief selector Agarkar has an eye on the future, and he wants to see the group of players around. Meanwhile, Gambhir might be thinking, ‘I want to win every series because it’s my name on the line.’ So, maybe there’s a conflict; it looks like that,” said Karthik.
“There’s one selector who wants to build the squad, and there’s another who is saying I want success because every series I play, my name is on the line along with the captain,” he added.
India under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy, lost 2-0 against Ireland and then suffered a defeat against England, losing the five-match series 4-0. The BCCI has already announced that a review would be conducted into the team’s dismal performance in the T20I leg of the UK tour.
