A top BCCI source informed PTI on Friday that although the ODI World Cup is still a year away, India’s 20 or so favorites have already been identified. The five national selectors will monitor these players throughout IPL 2026, which begins on March 28.
SS Das, RP Singh, Ajay Ratra, and Pragyan Ojha make up the panel headed by Ajit Agarakar. In October and November of 2027, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia will co-host the ODI World Cup.
While watching the other games on television, the panelists are expected to attend games at their separate bases. On March 28, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the reigning champions, will play Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bengaluru to kick off IPL 2026.
Since Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are returning to action after a two-month hiatus, the selection committee will be paying close attention to them. After retiring from Test and Twenty20 Internationals, the two players only represent India in One-Day Internationals. The five-match ODI series they played at home against New Zealand in January was their most recent competitive game.
The senior official also denied rumors that, following a successful T20 World Cup campaign earlier this year, Agarkar had requested an extension until the 50-over World Cup.
“The selection panel is a sub-committee of the BCCI and the selectors’ contract runs till September this year. Ajit’s contract ends in September and after that BCCI secretary and Ajit will have to decide whether he would continue till next year’s ODI World Cup. A senior selector can continue up to four years as per constitution and he doesn’t need to seek an extension,” PTI quoted a senior BCCI official as saying.
Since taking over as head of selectors in July 2023, Agarkar has played a pivotal role in the Test and T20 teams’ transitions when stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retired from these two formats.
Das lives in Kolkata, whereas Agarkar is based in Mumbai. Ojha is anticipated to watch his portion of the IPL matches in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, while RP Singh and Ratra live in New Delhi.
“The BCCI is looking at each selector watching at least one game per week which covers five games per week from the venue. Else obviously they can track on TV,” the official said.
It is thought that this IPL will focus more on monitoring the performance of the roughly 20 players who will be competing in the 50-overs World Cup due to the 2028 T20 World Cup and the Olympics that year.
No breakout IPL player is anticipated to be considered by the selection for the ODI World Cup. During IPL 2026, the performance and fitness of the core 50-over specialists will be monitored.
The four other fast bowlers for ODIs will be Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, and all-rounder Hardik Pandya. It has been reliably learned that pacer Harshit Rana will need a significant amount of time to recover.
Despite not having any World Test Championship points on the line, the selection committee is likewise unlikely to compromise on team strength for the one-off Test against Afghanistan at Mullanpur from June 6 to 10.
All of the best red-ball players, especially the front-line bowlers, are expected to be available for the nine Test matches that will take place between August and March.
Unless something goes wrong during the IPL, Bumrah and Siraj will also be included in the team against Afghanistan.
“The India Test cap isn’t for experimentation. For that, you have India A shadow tours. As of now, in Tests, Bumrah, Siraj and Prasidh are top three bowlers on the selectors’ radar,” the BCCI source said.
