India selector blasts Ajit Agarkar for picking Rohit Sharma for Australia tour

Former India National Cricket Team selector Saba Karim has lashed out at Ajit Agarkar for picking the modern-day batting great Rohit Sharma in the ODI squad for the upcoming series against the Australia National Cricket Team.

Saba Karim blasted the BCCI selection committee for sacking Rohit Sharma as the ODI skipper of the India National Cricket Team and said that he shouldn't have been picked in the squad after being stripped of captaincy.

Shubman Gill replaces Rohit Sharma as India's ODI captain

Rohit Sharma - the captain - is unarguably one of the greatest of all time in the history of cricket. He is a serial winner as he won numerous trophies in the Indian Premier League (IPL) before emulating the same success for India.

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At a period when India were struggling to win any major ICC Trophies and the wait extended beyond a decade, Rohit Sharma came to the helm and steered the team to two back-to-back glories.

In 2024, Rohit Sharma helped India win the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, and in 2025, he guided the side to the ICC Champions Trophy triumph, playing a stunning knock in the summit clash against the New Zealand National Cricket Team.

Not just this, he came very close to winning the ODI World Cup in 2023 as India reached the final against Australia unbeaten, but then on November 19 the Pat Cummins & Co. did something magical and broke the hearts of Rohit Sharma and all the Indians.

Meanwhile, the BCCI selection committee decided to sack Rohit as skipper despite him leading India to back-to-back ICC tournament triumphs. On Saturday, October 4, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced Shubman Gill as the new ODI captain for the Australia tour.

Overall, Rohit led India in 56 matches in ODI cricket, winning 42, losing 12, while 1 match ended in a tie and 1 had no result. He had an exceptional win percentage of 75 as an ODI skipper, which is the second best in the history of cricket behind Clive Lloyd's 76.2%.

If you haven’t made him the captain, then why are you still keeping him in the team? - Saba Karim

Speaking on KADAK, Saba Karim shared his blunt views on Rohit's sacking. He said that Rohit Sharma's removal from ODI captaincy was unnecessary, and if the selectors took such a decision, he should have been left out of the team altogether, as he is not part of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027 plans. Saba Karim said:

“If you haven’t made him the captain, then why are you still keeping him in the team? It clearly shows that you don’t see him as part of the future, that he won’t be there for the 2027 World Cup. In that case, you shouldn’t keep a player in the team whom you don’t see as part of your plans for 2027.

"Then whether he remains captain or not, or even a player or not, doesn’t really matter. That’s why I said the selectors have acted in great haste with Rohit Sharma, and there was no need for it.”

He has also shown good captaincy - Saba Karim hails Shubman Gill

Saba Karim further lauded Shubman Gill, who is now India's Test and ODI skipper, and said that the Punjab cricketer will be the all-format captain of the team by the next home season. He said:

“You have elevated him and even made him the vice-captain in T20s. Now that you have made him captain, the thought is that very soon, maybe by the next season, we will see Shubman Gill leading in all three formats.

"Looking at it this way, their thinking seems correct. They feel that there is no other capable leader, and that’s why they are pushing Shubman at this time. He has also shown good captaincy, performing well in Test cricket. Now we will see how he does in ODIs, but yes, he has the capabilities to become a captain.”

Also Read: BCCI using “Corporate-Style Pressure” on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to force retirement