Chief selector Ajit Agarkar, coach Gautam Gambhir to work on roadmap

Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar during a press conference in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI: While all eyes are trained on how the Indian team will fare in the five Tests in Australia from Friday, coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar will also be working on a roadmap for the future of the white-ball teams, apart from the Test squad.
TOI understands that Agarkar has been asked to stay in Australia for the entire length of the tour to work closely with Gambhir and get an understanding of how each player is placed in his career. Following the 0-3 debacle at home against New Zealand, talk of transition has gathered steam.
According to BCCI sources, the idea is to ensure that both Agarkar and Gambhir are on the same page on the matter. There has been speculation that there is a lack of synchronization over some of the recent strategies and selections. “Both Agarkar and Gambhir know that such poor performance in India will trigger widespread criticism, which is justified. Since it’s a long tour, both can sit together and discuss how things can be taken forward after the tour,” a BCCI source said. “Both will need at least a year and a half to build a team with strong backup. That’s where both have to be on the same page about the process.”
It is learnt that one of the major tasks is to speak with the senior players about their future plans. Captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are all in their late 30s. “These senior players are still a very important part of the team. But one may expect some tough discussions as well. The seniors will be kept in the loop about the vision of the selectors and coach. They will be asked to share how they plan their careers going into the next World Test Championship cycle and the ODI World Cup being about two years away,” the source said.

It may be noted that the turnaround time for the ICC Champions Trophy is very short after the fiveTest series. India have just three ODIs and five T20Is against England at home. The workload of the Test players will be reviewed. It is understood that the selectors, Rohit and Gambhir will also try to zero down on the core for the Champions Trophy.
Gambhir is also keen on having a niche T20 team with T20 specialists only, and not multi-format players, which is likely to come up for debate. The confusion stems from the fact that India’s multi-format players are often rested from T20I bilateral series. “The T20 format requires specialists but there are a few players like Bumrah, Pant, Jaiswal and Gill who can’t be ignored. Most of the T20I series are played against weaker oppositions or teams who also rest topline players. There is a line of thought that the youngsters in the T20 team then have to make way for the Test players when they are available,” the source said.