Where will Rohit and Hardik figure in Agarkar's last selection meeting?

15 Sept-Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya will be in focus when the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel meets to pick India's squad for the three ODIs against West Indies starting September 27. This will be the last selection meeting Agarkar heads, with his tenure set to end in early October.

The Rohit Sharma question

With just over a year to go for the 2027 ODI World Cup in southern Africa, Rohit's future remains a huge talking point. Rohit has made it clear that he wants to play in the tournament, but the messaging around him has been anything but clear.

It was learned during the England tour in July that the selectors had told Rohit that they planned to move on from him - the BCCI, through secretary Devajit Saikia, subsequently dismissed the chatter, saying Rohit remained part of India's ODI plans.

Talk around his ODI future intensified after his 26 off 47 balls in the second ODI in Cardiff. Prior to the England tour, he had made scores of 16, 48 and 79 against Afghanistan at home. Middling on the whole, but Rohit struck a century in his most recent ODI innings, at Lord's.

His position in the team has attracted scrutiny since the selection panel replaced him with Shubman Gill as India's ODI captain in October 2025, not long after Rohit had led India to the Champions Trophy title in March.

Wednesday's selection meeting, therefore, could give clarity on a question that has so far produced conflicting answers.

If not Hardik Pandya, who?

India's No. 1 seam-bowling allrounder, Hardik Pandya, has not played any competitive cricket since IPL 2026 because of a sequence of injuries. He was picked for the Afghanistan ODIs in June, only to suffer a leg injury prior to the series. Before that, he had missed four games for Mumbai Indians with back spasms and was undergoing conditioning work at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence when the latest setback came about.

Hardik is due to undergo a fitness test next week and is expected to be cleared, but the selectors may still be reluctant to rush him back given how important he is to India's balance in the 50-overs format. That could make the India A vs Australia A matches in Puducherry, starting October 6, the likeliest stage for his comeback.

It is understood that the selectors are keen for Hardik to focus on the 50-overs format for now - and not T20Is - with the 2027 World Cup a priority.

The selectors' headache has been compounded by the possible absence of the back-up options. With Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar part of the Asian Games squad, and left-arm spin-bowling allrounders Harsh Dubey and Shahbaz Ahmed injured, the selectors could go back to Ravindra Jadeja to lend some heft to the side. Jadeja has been part of the ODI set-up only sporadically over the past year. He missed the Afghanistan series altogether and last played in the format in January 2026.

The other option is a somewhat left-field one: Krunal Pandya, who has been one of Royal Challengers Bengaluru's trump cards in their twin IPL triumphs in 2025 and 2026.

A chance for Rishabh Pant or Dhruv Jurel

KL Rahul is likely to be the first-choice wicketkeeper, but with Ishan Kishan part of India's Asian Games contingent, the back-up wicketkeeper's spot could come down to a toss-up between Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel.

Pant hasn't played an ODI for over two years, while Jurel is uncapped in the format. But Jurel's batting stocks have risen of late, most recently with an unbeaten 115 in Sri Lanka - his second Test century. One of them could also double up as a back-up middle-order batter in the absence of Shreyas Iyer, who will lead India's Asian Games campaign in Japan.

Whoever misses out on the ODI squad is unlikely to be away from top-flight cricket for too long, though. They are expected to be star attractions in the Rest of India squad at the Irani Cup, against Ranji Trophy champions Jammu & Kashmir, to be played in Srinagar from October 1 to 5.

Kuldeep Yadav - conditions apply

On the back of a ten-for in the County Championship for Yorkshire, Kuldeep Yadav is in line to potentially get three straight games against West Indies. However, there could be a twist if he is a late inclusion in the Asian Games squad as a back-up or a replacement for the injured Varun Chakravarthy.

For now, Varun's setback appears to be temporary and he's very much in line to fly out to Japan.

But Vipraj Nigam, the 20-year old legspin-bowling allrounder, could be an outside chance of being in the touring party - he has been part of the India A set-up, and impressed with his lower-order batting in Sri Lanka in June-July.

There could also be a temptation to reunite the old pairing of "Kul-Cha" if the selectors deem Yuzvendra Chahal's performances in England worthy of a comeback. Chahal, who last played for India in August 2023, is the leading wicket-taker for Northamptonshire in the One-Day Cup. His 15 wickets in seven matches have come alongside an economy rate of 4.56. He has also picked up 18 wickets in his last four County Championship fixtures. Cricinfo