Ajinkya Rahane rarely shares his views, but when he does, the batter makes sure he has a strong, valid point. With youngsters taking over his place in the Test time, Rahane and as well as the retired Cheteshwar Pujara, remain committed to contribute to Indian Cricket in different capacities and try and bring a positive change. For the Mumbai batter, this means prioritizing selection panels that are deeply rooted and invested in with the state of the modern game.
Rahane wants players who have not been too far away from cricket for a long while. Notably, the current selection rule from BCCI states that selectors must wait until five years after retirement to be eligible to apply for the role of a selector, but the former India vice-captain believes that number should be lowered.
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"Players should not be scared of selectors. I want to talk about selectors, especially in domestic cricket. We should have selectors who have retired recently from playing top-flight cricket, those who have retired five-six years, seven to eight years ago," Rahane said while speaking as a guest on Pujara’s YouTube channel.
"Because the way cricket is evolving, I think it's very important that the mentality and mindset of the selectors match that and keep pace with the change,” further explained Rahane. “The game is evolving. We don't want to make decisions based on how cricket was played 20-30 years ago. With formats like T20 and the IPL, it's important to understand the style of modern cricket players.”
Pujara's take on the selection criteria different from Rahane's
While the recent appointment of Pragyan Ojha validates Rahane's point of selectors staying relevant and understand the modern demands of T20 cricket, but the Mumbai batter would like to see more of that, especially in the domestic level. However, Pujara issued a word of warning before Rahane's rule of selection is being implemented as he sees players and selectors punished for their experience, with a humongous amount of wealth that comes with time in the role if the batter's plan is opted.
"In big states, this can be implemented because they have so many options,” said Puujara, who hails from Saurashtra, a successful but much smaller domestic team than Rahane’s powerhouse Mumbai.
“So, wherever possible, I do agree that it can be implemented, but that does mean that any past cricketer, who has got a great record and wants to be a selector now, should be deprived of the chance because he retired long back," said Pujara, who recently announced his retirement from cricket.
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