BCCI Chief Selector Role Goes To Ojha As Powar Joins The Panel

India have a new BCCI chief selector. Pragyan Ojha has taken the chair of the men's selection committee in place of Ajit Agarkar. Ramesh Powar has been appointed to the vacant seat on the five-man panel. The board confirmed both moves on Monday. That closes a process which began at the 2026 annual general meeting, where office bearers were authorised to settle Agarkar's future in the role.

Powar was put forward by the Cricket Advisory Committee of Ashok Malhotra and Jatin Paranjape, who recommended him unanimously. Ojha moves up without a separate vote, because the chair follows the convention that the most capped Test player on the panel leads it.

Seniority decides the chair

Ojha played 24 Tests for India, more than any of his colleagues on the committee. That total is what puts him in the chair. The left-arm spinner's last Test was Sachin Tendulkar's farewell at the Wankhede in November 2013, and he also played 18 ODIs and six T20Is.

He never played for India again after that match. Ojha announced his retirement in 2020, closing a 13-year career. Six years on, he sets the agenda for the men's selection meetings.

The convention settles the chair without a separate interview. It also ties the role to panel turnover, so the chair can pass to a new member whose Test tally is higher.

Powar arrives from the coaching side

Powar comes to the panel from the coaching ranks. An off-spinner, he played two Tests and 31 ODIs between 2004 and 2007. Since then he has coached the India women's team, Mumbai and Gujarat, and worked as a bowling coach at the BCCI Centre of Excellence. The BCCI's release noted that the India women won an Asia Cup title and a Commonwealth Games silver under him.

He joins four members who were already selecting under Agarkar.

The panel Agarkar leaves behind

Agarkar had chaired the committee since July 2023. The BCCI credited his tenure with three ICC trophies, two Asia Cup titles and gold medals at consecutive Asian Games. The board has not given a reason for his departure.

Two separate routes produced Monday's outcome. The AGM put Agarkar's future in the hands of the office bearers. Filling the seat he vacated went to the Cricket Advisory Committee, whose remit covers panel appointments. The chair then followed the Test-caps convention rather than either process.

The committee now reads:

• Pragyan Ojha, chairperson
• Shiv Sundar Das
• RP Singh
• Ajay Ratra
• Ramesh Powar

First squads under the new chair

The panel picks India's men's sides across all three formats. Its squad for the New Zealand tour, which splits the ODI captaincy, was named before the handover. Ojha's committee inherits that call rather than making it.

Only the chair and one seat have changed. Das, RP Singh and Ratra all continue. The next squad announcement will be the first picked under Ojha.