Former Indian cricketer lauds R Ashwin for backing Agarkar: ‘Takes guts to say what he has said…’ - The Indian Express

Indian off-spinner R Ashwin has stepped in to support Ajit Agarkar, who has parted ways with the national team as chief selector. During his tenure as head, Agarkar never shied away from unpopular decisions. Ashwin, on his YouTube channel, was empathetic to Agarkar’s situation, which another former Indian cricketer, Aakash Chopra, later appreciated Ashwin for showing support to Agarkar.

“The fact is that Ajit Agarkar had the responsibility to take a lot of big decisions in this stint; he had to phase out the senior players, and it cannot be easy. I was one of the senior players phased out during his tenure, but still by keeping some distance from that, I want to say that he has been a very good chairman of selectors. If we look at what all he has done with the team,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“It takes guts to say what he has said. More than half of the people I have seen, and I have seen a lot of big players who are bitter. They are bitter because they feel that things did not go right for them. They have grudges, and they are bitter even after 10-15 years. Even after ending cricket and retiring, they are still bitter. They are still carrying that grudge around. I am not going to name names, but there are people like this,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

Chopra lent his support, saying there is a lot that would have been going on in the backroom, which Agarkar would know but cannot come out and say. And people who do criticise him are unaware of that fact.

“We all felt that something happened with Ash, and he did that. Ash is a pretty upfront guy, a completely honest guy who speaks what’s in his heart. He admitted that whoever has to handle a transition, it is a very difficult task for them. Agarkar has thought about how to take Indian cricket forward, it is not about worshipping players or looking at records,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“Many people abuse him, they are toxic people who talk a lot about Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir. There are so many realities that Ajit knows but can’t say because he is contractually bound. So, if R Ashwin, who was part of the transition, is saying that Ajit Agarkar has done a good job, I am going to take it at face value,” he concluded.

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