Ajit Agarkar was on Tuesday named the captain of Mumbai's One-day team for its forthcoming West Zone one-day campaign to be held from February 22 to 26 in Mumbai.
BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla also spoke on how domestic cricketers have seen a rise in their pay and scale over the years to an unprecedented level.
'The reasons which they are giving they could have said it openly: 'We are dropping Hardik Pandya as captain, we want to move forward. We are looking at Suryakumar as a long term'. Make it clear.'
India's hopes of drawing the series at The Oval may hinge on one question: will Jasprit Bumrah play?
Roundup of the Ranji Trophy matches played at various places
The West Zone skipper's brilliant all-round display helped his team register a huge 180-run victory over South Zone in the Deodhar Trophy.
Ignored by the national selectors for T20 set-up, Yashasvi Jaiswal sent another stern reminder to the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee with a blistering 48-ball century as defending champions Mumbai crushed Haryana by four wickets in a high-scoring Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Super League B match, in Ambi, Pune, on Sunday.
The Mumbai speedster said it will be a great experience bowling with the ace Aussie paceman.
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh finds it a bit unfortunate that the future of legends like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli is being decided by "people who have not achieved much" but he nonetheless expects the duo to carry on till the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Karun Nair, the standout performer of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, has failed to make it into India's Champions Trophy squad despite an extraordinary domestic season.
Speculations and debates have sparked over social media since last week, after chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the management's decision to hand over the ODI captaincy from Rohit to Shubman Gill.
Veteran pacer Ajit Agarkar's maiden century (102 not out) rescued Mumbai from a precarious position and enabled them set Himachal Pradesh a target of 252 runs on the third day of the Super League Group A Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai on Thursday.
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming won the toss and elected to bat against India in the second game of the tri-series.
'Jaiswal has an avg of 36 & a strike rate of 164 in T20Is and he got dropped for Gill who has avg of 30 and a strike rate of 139.' 'There is no place for merit anymore.'
Shubman Gill enjoyed a phenomenal run with the bat in England, piling up 754 runs at an average of 75.40 with four centuries.
'The whole country is behind him and watching his performances. You can't ignore a guy who's done so much for India.'
The series in Australia could well be Rohit's last in India Blues. But Kohli, given his high fitness standards, could play on until the 2027 World Cup.
Intent does not always translate immediately into numbers, and effort however sincere needs to find expression in runs, especially with a World Cup drawing closer.
'The most important thing is that they will always have my back. Aim to make it a happy and secure dressing room.'
The cricketing ecosystem has learned to survive the prolonged absence of Kohli and Rohit -- at least in two formats -- in this interim period.
Nair's runs have powered Vidarbha into the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament, where they will take on Karnataka in Vadodara on Saturday.
'But looking at what Virat and Rohit can deliver, I think they still have a lot of cricket and they're still world-class players and obviously any team would want to have both of them for as long as possible.'
The India fast bowler, who claimed 6-41, said he exploited the tendency of the Australian batsmen to go for their shots.
Although Shubman Gill's return to the T20 side has cast a shadow over Sanju Samson's place in the playing XI for the Asia Cup in the UAE, the hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batter will be counting on head coach Gautam Gambhir, who has often spoken highly of his positive attitude.
Ravindra Jadeja's omission from the India ODI squad for Australia tour raised a few eyebrows but the veteran all-rounder was not surprised as the selection committee and team management had "communicated" to him about their inability to pick him.
The report also indicated that Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal are unlikely to get a call-up to the T20I squad as the team management might not upset the team's core combination.
India's captain said Rohan Gavaskar and Amit Bhandari were unlucky to miss out on the Pakistan trip.
On Wednesday, head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed that they have yet to take a call on which Tests India will field Bumrah in the playing XI.
"Don't think he'll be available for all 5 Tests...": Ajit Agarkar on Jasprit Bumrah's availability for England series
The squad also features Karun Nair, who returns to the national set up after a long gap of eight years.
Ravi Shastri cautions India about resting Bumrah in second Test against England
Shubman Gill has described his appointment as India's ODI captain as the "biggest honour", expressing pride in carrying forward the legacy left by Rohit Sharma, who will play under him in the upcoming three-match series in Australia.
Akash Chopra, Ramesh Powar and Yuvraj Singh have also been named in the 15 member squad for the three-Test series against Pakistan.
The fast bowler is looking to contribute consistently with the bat at No. 8.
Ravindra Jadeja will play in Saurashtra's Ranji Trophy match against Delhi, from January 23. The India all-rounder, who last played for Saurashtra in January 2023, turned up for the team's practice session in Rajkot on Sunday.
This would mark the first time an Indian head coach travels with the 'A' team on a tour.
Paras Mhambrey will lead the side in the semi-final against Baroda from April 25 to 29.
Here's a quick look back to the day when India erased a good chunk of the stigma of being poor travellers.
'I have said this before... Selection is not in my hands. If there is a fitness issue, I shouldn't be here playing for Bengal.'
