Ajit Agarkar and VVS Laxman have worked together around Indian cricket for the last few years.
But could differences between the two have reached a point where even a BCCI meeting was expected to turn heated?
Ajit Agarkar has been the BCCI chief selector since July 2023, while Laxman is the head of the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE).
Both have been involved in important decisions involving Indian players, especially injuries, India A cricket and player workload.
Now, a report has revealed an interesting detail about the recent BCCI review meeting in Mumbai. Agarkar did not attend the meeting, which was held to discuss India’s England series and the road ahead.
According to a reports, there was talk that Agarkar’s absence may actually have avoided a confrontation with Laxman.
The report claimed that there were concerns that the meeting could have led to a “war of words” between the two over the functioning of the COE.
So, where did the differences come from? PTI reported that Agarkar and Laxman, who were India teammates for several years, have had serious differences over policy decisions involving injured players and the scheduling of India A matches.
One major issue was the scheduling of India A games. Two India A Tests in Puducherry are set to overlap with the Irani Cup, while the India A series against New Zealand A also clashes with India’s T20I and ODI schedule.
Agarkar had also questioned the need to send a strong Indian side to the 2022 Asian Games when India were preparing for the ODI World Cup.
Now, with Agarkar’s future as chief selector already under discussion, the reported differences with Laxman raise another question was his absence from the review meeting really just a coincidence, or was there more behind it?
