BCCI’s review meeting with Gambhir, Agarkar in Raipur shelved, focus shifts to T20I selection and Gill’s return: Report
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia was reportedly set to conduct a review meeting with India head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar in the aftermath of India’s 0-2 whitewash at the hands of Africa ahead of the second ODI against the Proteas in Raipur.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly shelved a review meeting that they were supposed to conduct ahead of the second ODI between India and South Africa in Raipur on Wednesday. Said meeting was supposed to be conducted by BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia with joint secretary Prabhtej Singh Bhatia, head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar in attendance.
It was convened in the aftermath of the 0-2 whitewash at the hands of the Temba Bavuma-led South African team, the second time India had suffered a clean sweep in a Test series at home in the span of a year, marking the lowest point in Indian cricket history.
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The BCCI intended to outline India’s roadmap across formats and improve communication between the Agarkar-led national selection committee and the Indian team management. The breakdown in communication between the management and certain senior players was also set to be discussed.
However, the meeting that was supposed to take place on Tuesday on the eve of the second ODI was ultimately called off, according to Cricbuzz, and that there was “no indication of any such conclave” for 3 December.
Chief selector Agarkar, in fact, did not even travel to the Chhattisgarh capital from Ahmedabad, where he was in attendance at the Narendra Modi Stadium to watch teams that are placed in Elite Group D of the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, including Karnataka, Delhi and Jharkhand, in action.
Pragyan Ojha, who had recently joined the selection committee along with former India teammate RP Singh, had travelled to Ranchi for the first ODI against the Proteas, and was seen having a discussion with Gambhir and star batter Virat Kohli, who have reportedly been cold with one another recently.
Gill likely to return to action in SA T20Is
The Agarkar-led selection committee, meanwhile, is expected to unveil India’s squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa that gets underway on Tuesday, 9 December.
Shubman Gill, who leads India in Tests and ODIs and his skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy in the shortest format, is expected to return to action after suffering a neck injury during the first Test against the Proteas in Kolkata, which forced him to miss the second Test in Guwahati as well as the three-match ODI series.
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Gill, who is expected to succeed Surya as India’s captain in the shortest format after the T20 World Cup early next year, had been admitted to a hospital in Kolkata while the first Test was underway, and had travelled with the team to Guwahati, only to be ruled out last minute.
The 26-year-old has since undergone physiotherapy in Mumbai and spent time with his family in Chandigarh before checking into the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, where he will start training in the nets this week in preparation for the T20I series.
The T20I series against South Africa is important since it will be the team’s second-last assignment before the T20 World Cup and will mark the beginning of the team’s final preparations for their title defence. Besides Gill, the selectors are also likely to recall Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.
While Bumrah had been rested for the ODI series after playing the Tests, Pandya has been sidelined since the Asia Cup due to an injury and is currently representing Baroda in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, in which he smashed an unbeaten 77 off 42 balls against the Abhishek Sharma-led Punjab in his first competitive appearance in more than two months.
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