5 major statements made by Ajit Agarkar in press conference during ENG vs IND 2025 squad announcement ft. Sarfaraz Khan

Indian senior men's team chief selector Ajit Agarkar, along with head Gautam Gambhir and the selection panel, met at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Saturday, May 24. They announced the squad for the upcoming tour of England and India's new Test captain.

India are set to tour England for a five-match Test series in June this year. With Rohit Sharma having retired from Tests, there was a buzz around who the next leader will be, especially with a big England tour coming up right away. Notably, Shubman Gill has been announced as India's new Test captain.

With veterans like Rohit, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin stepping away, this is a transition period for Indian Test cricket and some interesting calls have been made as far as the Test squad is concerned.

On that note, here are five major statements made by Ajit Agarkar in a press conference after the squad for the England tour was announced.

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#5 "He’s a quality bowler and has had a taste of county as well" - Agarkar on Arshdeep Singh

Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh has been included in the squad in the absence of Mohammad Shami. Talking about Arshdeep's inclusion, Ajit Agarkar stated that he has played County cricket and brings in variety. He also added that Arshdeep has been in good form in recent times.

“He’s a quality bowler and has had a taste of county as well. He plays domestic when he can. A tall guy, can bowl with the new ball, has body of work in red-ball cricket and in recent form in the last couple of years. Bumrah unlikely to play all five Tests, we needed a bit of variety," he said.

Arshdeep has played 21 first-class matches and has picked up 66 wickets at an average of 30.37.

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#4 "Sometimes you just have to make good decisions" - Agarkar on Sarfaraz Khan

Sarfaraz Khan has been left out of the squad for the England Test series. On the batter missing out, Ajit Agarkar said that the management has to make good decisions. He added that Karun Nair, who has done well in domestic cricket, was preferred over Sarfaraz considering his form, experience, and the fact that there is no Virat Kohli at number four.

“Sometimes you just have to make good decisions. Sarfaraz, I know he got a 100 in the first Test and then didn’t get runs. Sometimes it’s decisions the team management takes. At the moment, Karun has scored heaps of runs in domestic, has played a bit of Test cricket, played a bit of county cricket. With Virat not there, clearly we’re lacking a bit of experience. We felt his experience could help," he said.

Karun played a massive role in Vidarbha's 2024-25 Ranji Trophy triumph, scoring 863 runs from nine matches at an average of 53.93 with four hundreds and two fifties.

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#3 "Just happy he’s part of the squad" - Agarkar on Jasprit Bumrah

Ajit Agarkar also provided a key update on ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah. The chief selector mentioned that Bumrah will not play all five Tests, keeping his workload management in mind. However, Ajit Agarkar expressed that they are happy to have him in the squad nonetheless.

“Don’t think he’ll be available for all five Tests. Whether it’s four or three, we’ll see based on how the series goes and his workload is. Even if he’s fit for 3-4 Tests, he’ll be an asset for us. Just happy he’s part of the squad," he explained.

Bumrah sustained a serious injury during the BGT 2024-25 series and was out of action for a long time, missing the 2025 Champions Trophy and only returning to play the IPL after missing the initial matches as well.

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#2 “You don’t pick captains for one tour or two tours" - Agarkar on captaincy

With Shubman Gill being appointed as India's new Test captain, Ajit Agarkar provided a massive hint that Gill could be the long-term leader of the Test team. Ajit Agarkar said that there has been significant improvement in Gill and that the management is hopeful of him being the leader.

“We discussed every option that’s there, over the last year or so, we’ve looked at Shubman at various times. Taken a lot of feedback from the dressing room. Very young, but there’s been improvement. We’re hopeful he’s the guy. He’s a terrific player, our best wishes to him. You don’t pick captains for one tour or two tours. We’ve seen some progress over the last year or two with him. No doubt it’s going to be as tough as it gets," he said.

With his very first assignment as Test captain being an away tour of England, the challenge is going to be a huge one for Shubman Gill.

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#1 “When guys like that retire, always big holes to fill" - Agarkar on Kohli, Sharma & Ashwin

Ajit Agarkar also touched on the retirements of Rohit, Kohli, and Ashwin, saying there will be big holes to fill with the three having walked away.

“When guys like that retire, always big holes to fill. Ashwin also retired. Those three have been stalwarts. Always difficult. One way of looking at it is, opportunity for someone else," he said.

Talking specifically about Kohli, Ajit Agarkar said that the former captain had reached out to them in April and informed them about his decision.

"Virat reached out early April, seen him give 200% every ball he plays even when he’s not batting or on the field. Felt he’d given everything he had, if he can’t keep up to the standards it was time for him. It’s come from him. Have to respect that. They’ve earned that respect," he said.

Notably, Kohli is India's most successful Test captain till date.