Ajit Agarkar, the newly appointed chairman of the men's national selection committee, faced backlash after the panel selected Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma ahead of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rinku Singh in India's T20 squad for the upcoming five-match series against West Indies in the Caribbean. The decision, which seemingly favored players associated with Mumbai, drew criticism from fans who questioned the selection process and raised concerns about a perceived "Mumbai mafia" at play.
Jaiswal, who represents Mumbai in domestic cricket, and Varma, who plays for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), were included in the 15-member squad led by Hardik Pandya for the T20 series against West Indies starting from August 5. The exclusion of Rinku Singh, despite his impressive performances, drew significant attention and disappointment from fans.
While both Jaiswal and Gaikwad are openers, with the latter hailing from Maharashtra and representing Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, Varma and Rinku Singh are middle-order batsmen. Interestingly, Gaikwad was selected by the previous selection committee, without Ajit Agarkar, for both the Test and ODI segments of the multi-format tour of West Indies.
Statistically, Rinku Singh holds a slightly better record than Tilak Varma, having scored 474 runs in 14 matches during IPL 2023, with an average of 59.25 and a strike rate of 149.52. Varma, who also displayed good form for Mumbai Indians in the same IPL season, is a left-handed middle-order batter, scoring 343 runs in 11 matches at an average of 42.87 and a strike rate of 164.11.
Fans expressed their disappointment and anger on social media, criticizing the selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar for overlooking Rinku Singh, a talented batsman from Uttar Pradesh. Many fans drew comparisons with Sarfaraz Khan, another player from Mumbai, who was overlooked by the previous selection committee led by SS Das.
One Twitter user, @KattaVillain, wrote, "Ajit Agarkar became Chief Selector and Mumbai Mafia at work immediately. How can you pick Tilak over Rinku Singh? Jaiswal over Ruturaj? Mukesh/Avesh over Mohsin Khan? This is a ridiculous selection. Sanju Samson might feel extremely lucky to survive."
Others echoed similar sentiments, highlighting Rinku Singh's exceptional performances and drawing attention to the lack of influential connections in his career. Twitter user Dr Nimo Yadav (@niiravmodi) remarked, "He is Rinku Singh, KKR batsman. He hails from a poor background, marginalized society, became a cricketer after a lot of struggles, scored 470+ runs in IPL 2023... But today he has not been selected for Ind vs WI T20 series. Rinku has everything like talent and class but he doesn't have any Godfather."
The decision not to include Rinku Singh sparked accusations of favoritism and a bias towards Mumbai Indians players. Fans expressed their frustration, with one user stating, "This is ridiculous, Rinku Singh performed so well in the last IPL, Tilak is nowhere in front of him, this is favoritism by Rohit, he himself doesn't perform and is trying to make the Indian team full of MI people, shameless."