The 2025 Ranji Trophy season is set to kick off on October 15, and while Ajinkya Rahane won’t be leading Mumbai this time, he will still be part of the squad. All-rounder Shardul Thakur has been named the new captain.
Ahead of the tournament, Rahane has stirred discussion with his strong views on how selectors are chosen and how they should interact with players.
‘Recently retired first-class cricketers should be given responsibility of selection’
Ajinkya Rahane has called for a major overhaul in the process of appointing selectors, especially in domestic cricket.
He believes that only recently retired first-class cricketers should be given the responsibility of team selection, as they are better attuned to the modern demands of the game.
“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 longtime teammate Cheteshwar Pujara on Rahane’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 players,” he added.
“I believe selectors should, wherever possible, be individuals from all states, so that players should be on the ground playing with freedom, playing fearless cricket.”
Cheteshwar Pujara partially agreed with Ajinkya Rahane’s views.
“In big states this can be implemented because they have so many options. So, wherever possible, I do agree that it can be implemented, but that doesn’t mean that any past cricketer, who has got a great record and wants to be a selector now, should be deprived of the chance because he retired long back,” Pujara said.
After an illustrious career spanning 103 Tests, Cheteshwar Pujara announced his retirement from all formats of cricket in August this year, following his omission from the squad for the England series.
Ajinkya Rahane, meanwhile, continues to remain active in international cricket but decided to relinquish his role as Mumbai’s captain in August.
