Ramesh Powar Appointed India Men’s Selector, Ojha to Chair

Ramesh Powar has been appointed to India’s men’s senior selection committee, filling the vacancy created following the end of Ajit Agarkar’s term as chief selector. Pragyan Ojha will chair the five-member panel, with the appointment determined by the committee’s seniority system for international experience.

The BCCI’s cricket advisory committee, comprising Ashok Malhotra and Jatin Paranjape, selected Powar for the West Zone place. Powar was chosen ahead of other applicants, including former India opener Wasim Jaffer, who had confirmed earlier in the week that he had applied for the role.

The changes complete the current senior men’s selection committee and establish Ojha as its chair after Agarkar’s term concluded on October 4. Ojha had been serving as interim head of the panel and led the committee that selected India’s squads for the upcoming all-format tour of New Zealand.

Powar fills West Zone vacancy

Powar joins a committee that includes Ojha, Shiv Sunder Das, RP Singh and Ajay Ratra. His appointment adds extensive coaching experience to the panel following a playing career in which he represented India in two Tests and 31 ODIs between 2004 and 2007.

An offspinner from Mumbai, Powar retired in 2015 and subsequently held a range of coaching positions. He served two separate stints as head coach of the India women’s team, during which the side won an Asia Cup title and a Commonwealth Games silver medal. He has also coached Mumbai and Gujarat in domestic cricket.

Powar’s recent work has included a role as bowling coach at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence. His appointment now moves him into the national selection structure, where the committee is responsible for choosing India’s senior men’s squads.

The decision also resolved the opening that emerged when Agarkar’s tenure ended. Jaffer was among those in contention, and his 31 Tests would have placed him ahead in the seniority calculation had he been appointed. Instead, Powar has joined the group, while Ojha takes the chair.

Why Ojha takes the chair

The chair of the men’s selection committee is appointed on the basis of seniority measured by international matches played, with Test appearances receiving preference. Ojha’s record of 24 Tests for India made him the senior eligible member of the existing committee after Agarkar’s departure.

Ojha has been a member of the selection panel since September 2025. Alongside him before Powar’s arrival were Shiv Sunder Das, RP Singh and Ajay Ratra, with Ojha taking interim charge after the chief selector’s term ended. His confirmation as chair formalises that leadership role.

The completed committee is Pragyan Ojha as chair, with Shiv Sunder Das, RP Singh, Ajay Ratra and Ramesh Powar as members. The group will now oversee senior men’s selection matters with Powar representing the newly filled West Zone position.

For India, the appointments matter because they settle the structure of the selection panel after Agarkar’s exit and place a former India spinner with national-team and domestic coaching experience alongside four existing members. Ojha’s elevation provides continuity from the panel that had already selected the squads for the forthcoming New Zealand tour.