'It's very important that the mentality and mindset of...': Ajinkya Rahane urges BCCI for a radical shift in appointing cricket selectors

Veteran Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane suggested changes in the process of choosing a selector, especially at the domestic level. He said only players who have recently retired from first-class cricket should be allowed to pick teams because they understand the game better as it changes.

Ajinkya Rahane for the national selector process

Currently, a cricketer who has played 10 first-class matches can apply to be a state selector, but they must have retired at least five years ago. Rahane added that besides these rules, it’s important that selectors have a mindset and approach that match the fast-changing nature of cricket.

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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-eight years ago," Rahane said during an interaction with one-time teammate Cheteshwar Pujara on the former'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. 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," he added.

"I believe selectors should, wherever possible, be individuals from all states, and players should be on the ground playing with freedom, playing fearless cricket."

Ajinkya Rahane's Test career

Ajinkya Rahane has represented India in 85 Tests, where he scored 5077, including 12 hundreds and 26 half-centuries at an average of 38.46. He also captained India in several occasions. One of the memorable captaincy stints came in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where Rahane-led India defeated Australia in a Test series in the absence of senior players, including Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami. Rahane's last Test outing came in 2023 against West Indies.