The men’s senior selection committee are set to meet on Wednesday to pick Team India squad for ODI and T20I series against West Indies starting later this month.
Published: September 16, 2026, 11:47 AM IST
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Hardik Pandya (left) and Rohit Sharma(Photo: IANS)
India vs West Indies 2026: The chairman of men’s senior selection committee Ajit Agarkar is possibly going to preside in his final meeting as the selectors will meet on Wednesday to pick the squads for India’s white-ball series against West Indies beginning later this monthAgarkar’s tenure as chief selector is set to end later this month and the former India pacer has had no meeting with Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials about the extension in his contract for another year.
The focus will be once again on the Mumbai Indians duo of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya for two different reasonsAccording to various media reports, the selection committee led by Agarkar wanted to look beyond former captain Rohit Sharma for the ODI format of the game under captain Shubman Gill in the lead up to the ICC ODI World Cup 2027.
Agarkar is reportedly not pleased with the interference of BCCI officials in selection matters, including the insistence on picking Rohit Sharma, who scored a brilliant century in his last ODI match against England at Lord’s in July this year.
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya, on the other hand, has been battling to recover from injury and hasn’t played in any professional match since IPL 2026 seasonPandya has been picked to play for India ‘A’ against Australia ‘A’ and it will be interesting to see if he will feature in the ODI and T20I squads against West Indies
BIG UPDATE ON AJIT AGARKAR
– Today might be the last selection day for Ajit Agarkar, BCCI has not given any indication of a contract extension so far[Abhishek Tripathi]
Indian squad for West Indies series will be announced todaypic.twitter.com/cwmWbtt6JE
— Johns(@CricCrazyJohns) September 16, 2026
India will play three ODIs and five T20Is against the West Indies starting on September 27Agarkar’s contract runs till October 4 and till Tuesday night, none of BCCI’s top brass had contacted the chairmanAgarkar on his part had told sources close to him that after the West Indies team selection meeting he is likely to mail a thank you note to secretary Devajit Saikia for BCCI giving him an opportunity to work for three years, according to a report by PTI news agency.
The lack of seam bowling all-rounders is an issue for selection committee if Pandya is unavailable for the ODI and T20I seriesThe second option apart from Hardik Pandya – Nitish Kumar Reddy – will be in Japan playing the Asian Games 2026 during the ODI seriesThe third and fourth options — Suryansh Shedge and Venkatesh Iyer – are currently injuries.
Will Rishabh Pant make ODI comeback?
Former Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant’s indifferent IPL 2026 form saw him lose Test vice-captaincy and also a place in the white-ball sides but with Ishan Kishan in Japan, the Delhi Capitals wicketkeeper might just get a look-in in the squad of 15 with KL Rahul being the first choice ODI keeperRahul is also likely to be Shubman Gill’s deputy in absence of Shreyas Iyer in the ODI series against West Indies.
In case Pant misses out on ODI return, then selectors will go for Rajasthan Royals wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel and send Pant to lead Rest of India in the Irani Cup 2026 against Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar.
Chenai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad is expected to take the No 4 slot in the line-up after skipper Gill, Rohit Sharma and Virat KohliYashasvi Jaiswal will be the reserve opener while reserve middle order batter in all likelihood will be Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar.
Both Gaikwad and Patidar are also supposed to play for India A after the West Indies ODIs with the former leading the team.
