Champions Trophy 2025: Agarkar and Gambhir involved in a heated debate selection meeting; Here's why

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector Ajit Agarkar and Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir had a heated debate during the selection committee before finalizing the squad for the Champions Trophy 2025. 

Before the third ODI against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the BCCI announced the final squad for the marquee event, with Jasprit Bumrah being ruled out of the tournament and young pacer Harshit Rana was added to the 15-member. Also, Varun Chakravarthy was surprisingly included by replacing Yashasvi Jaiswal. Jaiswal was part of the preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy, since team India management wanted an extra spinner in the roster. 

However, during the finalization of the India squad for the Champions Trophy, Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir were at loggerheads over certain decisions that disappointed the chief selector.

Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir had a heated debate over Rishabh Pant not getting a game time during the recently concluded ODI series against England. With Team India management led by Gambhir decided to play KL Rahul in other three matches of the ODI series, Agarkar reportedly unhappy with the decision to not give Rishabh Pant an opportunity to feature in the series, especially considering his potential for the Champions Trophy 2025.

As per the report by Times of India (TOI), the sources stated that Ajit Agarkar backed Rishabh Pant as a first-choice wicketkeeper, but he did not get a game in the ODI series against England. The heated debate was centered around Shreyas Iyer retaining his place in the team and KL Rahul getting a game time before the tournament. 

“Selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar, while announcing the Champions Trophy squad, had claimed Pant was the first-choice wicketkeeper. As it turned out, Pant is the only player in the squad who didn’t get a game in the three ODIs in the England series. Sources indicated that there had been heated debate in the selection meeting around retaining Shreyas Iyer in the team and over the second wicketkeeper’s slot.” the source close to the BCCI told TOI.

Shreyas Iyer made his international comeback after a gap of over a year and had an impressive outing in the England ODI series, amassing 181 runs, including two fifties, at an average of 60.33. KL Rahul, on the other hand, did not have an ideal series as he could score only 52 runs at an average of 17.33 in three matches. Rahul’s poor show with the blow could be the reason for the heated debate between Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir. 

However, Gautam Gambhir confirmed that KL Rahul would be the first-choice wicketkeeper for India in the upcoming Champions Trophy, adding that Rishabh Pant should be ready whenever get a chance in the tournament. 

“Ultimately, it’s very difficult to talk about individuals, but all I can say is that if Pant is a part of the squad, he will get an opportunity.” Gambhir said at the press conference post India’s win against England in the 3rd ODI. 

“But at the moment obviously, KL is our number one wicketkeeper, and he’s delivered for us. When you have two wicketkeepers in the squad, you can’t play both with the kind of quality we’ve got. Hopefully, whenever he [Pant] gets an opportunity, he should be ready for it,” he added.

When Rishabh Pant was on the sidelines for 15 months due to injuries he sustained from a near-fatal car crash a couple of years ago, KL Rahul stepped in as a wicketkeeper and batted in the middle-order. Rahul donned the gloves during the Test series against South Africa, Asia Cup 2023 and World Cup 2023. However, it remains to be seen whether there will be a change of mind to hand over wicketkeeping duties to Rishabh Pant ahead of the Champions Trophy opening match against Bangladesh.