Ajit Agarkar set for higher salary than all former India chief selectors: Report

Former India cricketer Ajit Agarkar’s appointment as the chairman of BCCI’s Senior Men’s Selection Committee could lead to more changes in the cricket board. BCCI has a tradition of picking selectors zone-wise – east, west, south, north and central. However, with Agarkar’s appointment, BCCI has decided to move away from the age-old tradition in order to have an accomplished cricketer as the chairman of the selection committee. Shiv Sundar Das was acting as the interim chairman of the selection panel since Chetan Sharma resigned from the post. The other members of the panel are Subroto Banerjee, Salil Ankola and Sridharan Sharath. Besides having two selectors from the west zone – Agarkar and Ankola – the BCCI is also set to increase the salary of the chairman. Currently, the chairman is paid Rs 1 crore per year while the other four selectors earn Rs 90 lakh. According to a report in the Cricbuzz, BCCI has agreed to hike the chairman’s salary to Rs 3 crore from Rs 1 crore. The decision to increase the salary could be taken at the BCCI Annual General Meeting (AGM) in September where it would also be decided if the remaining four selectors would also receive a pay hike. It has also been reported that Agarkar, a commentator and a former member of the Delhi Capitals coaching staff, was initially reluctant to take up the selector’s job but was persuaded by a cricketing legend to take up the role. Agarkar has in the past headed Mumbai’s selection committee and was seen by BCCI as an ideal candidate due to his knowledge of the game and experience of playing T20 cricket. He has played 26 Tests for India, 191 ODIs and four T20Is, besides 42 matches in the IPL. In his first assignment, Agarkar picked India's T20I squad for the West Indies tour on Wednesday. Tilak Varma was handed a maiden call-up while Sanju Samson made a return to the squad. Agarkar was made the head of the selection panel on 4 July after the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), consisting of Sulakshana Naik, Ashok Malhotra, and Jatin Paranjape, unanimously approved his appointment. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News,  India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.