Ajit Agarkar has been going through a difficult time as the chief selector ever since he selected the Indian cricket team for the Sri Lanka tour. Many former Indian players have criticized his decision to remove Hardik Pandya from the T20 captaincy. Agarkar said that due to the feedback received from the dressing room and Hardik's fitness, he was not considered as the captain.

Pandya was the vice-captain of Team India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and the current selection committee has given him this responsibility but soon after the T20 World Cup, Pandya was sidelined and Suryakumar Yadav was appointed captain in the shortest format of the game. Krishnamachari Srikkanth has slammed Agarkar, expressing displeasure over the decision to remove Hardik from captaincy.

Srikkanth said, “I think he has done this based on the feedback he got from the dressing room. It must have been from the IPL itself. I disagree on the issue of fitness. He played all the matches for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024. In the World Cup, he was present in all the matches and performed well. Feedback from the dressing room? I don't understand. Suryakumar Yadav can become a good captain, but the reasons for removing Hardik from the captaincy are not justified.”

Srikkanth also suggested that the selectors should give a straight answer. Speaking further, Srikkanth said, “They could have easily said that Hardik has been dropped and they were considering Suryakumar Yadav for a long time. I have been the chairman of selectors. I have selected and removed players. I have also made mistakes, but you should give a good explanation behind your move.”