Pragyan Ojha takes charge of India's selection panel as Ramesh Powar fills Agarkar's seat

The BCCI has confirmed Pragyan Ojha as chairman of its senior men's selection committee and added Ramesh Powar to the panel in the seat Ajit Agarkar vacated this month

Ojha had been running the committee on an interim basis since Agarkar's term ended on 4 October. The board set out both decisions in a media advisory on Monday, completing a panel that had been a member short for a fortnight.

Powar fills the West Zone vacancy on the five-man committee. The Cricket Advisory Committee interviewed applicants at the BCCI's headquarters and, the board said, "unanimously recommended the appointment of Mr Ramesh Powar".

The committee now reads Ojha as chairperson, Shiv Sunder Das, RP Singh, Ajay Ratra and Powar.

A chairmanship settled by Test caps

The BCCI does not put the chair to a vote. It goes to whichever member has played the most Test cricket, and the advisory said so plainly: "Based on seniority (most Tests), Mr Pragyan Ojha will chair the Committee."

Ojha's 24 Tests are the most on the panel. The left-arm spinner also played 18 ODIs and six T20Is for India.

The same measure puts Powar at the other end of the order, with two Tests to his name.

Ojha is not new to the room. He joined the selection committee in September 2025, at the BCCI's 94th annual general meeting, alongside RP Singh.

Powar takes the West Zone seat

The board invited applications for the single vacancy on 6 October, two days after Agarkar's contract expired, and the window closed on 14 October.

The Cricket Advisory Committee, made up of Ashok Malhotra and Jatin Paranjape, screened and interviewed the applicants before putting Powar's name forward.

The seat is a zonal one, and Powar, a former Mumbai all-rounder, takes the West Zone place Agarkar held.

Agarkar leaves with three ICC titles

Agarkar was appointed chairman in July 2023 and his contract was not extended beyond 4 October this year.

In the three years his panel was in charge of selection, India won three ICC trophies, two Asia Cup titles and back-to-back Asian Games gold medals.

The BCCI said it was placing on record its appreciation of his commitment, conviction and contribution as chairman of the men's selection committee.

A coaching record built with the women's team

Powar played two Tests and 31 ODIs for India between 2004 and 2007 as an off-spinner.

The coaching career has been the longer one. He had two spells as head coach of the India women's team, taking them to an Asia Cup title and a Commonwealth Games silver medal.

He has also coached Mumbai and Gujarat and worked as a bowling coach at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, where the board's age-group and India A cricketers pass through.

A panel back at full strength

The appointments land between assignments rather than before one. India's ODI and Test squads for the tour of New Zealand were announced last week, with Ojha still in interim charge, and the board has since replaced the injured Arshdeep Singh with Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a home T20I.

Powar's arrival restores the panel to five for the first time since the start of the month.

The squads for the rest of India's home season will be the first assembled by the completed committee.

Ojha chairs the panel on a full term rather than the holding brief he carried through the first half of October.

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