Latest news with #AjitAgarkar
NDTV
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Watch: Former Indian Cricketer Ajit Agarkar Talks About How Pilates Has Changed His Life
Pilates is a modern workout method created by Joseph Pilates in the early 1900s, originally to help dancers bounce back from injuries. It is great for building muscle tone, strength, and flexibility. Former Indian cricketer Ajit Agarkar recently opened up about how Pilates transformed his life, boosting his health and athletic skills. Now, after retiring from cricket, staying fit has become a top priority for him. Ajit Agarkar, who is also the BCCI Chairperson, visited celebrity fitness trainer Yasmin Karachiwala's Pilates studio to share how this workout changed the game for him. Having spent years playing cricket, Ajit Agarkar found Pilates in the later part of his career and credits it for greatly improving his overall fitness and wellbeing. According to Ajit Agarkar, Pilates has given him a "new lease," reflecting a renewed passion for exercise. 'I've played the majority of my life, Pilates certainly has given me a new lease,' he said in a recent Instagram video. Despite the severity of the sessions, he has returned to Pilates and finds the practice enjoyable. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Yasmin Karachiwala | Celebrity Fitness Instructor (@yasminkarachiwala) Pilates places a strong emphasis on the core, which is important for athletes. It helps with overall body fitness by enhancing strength, flexibility, and coordination, along with core exercises. The former Indian cricketer said that the Pilates classes are hard and often leave him feeling "half dead" by the end. Despite the difficulties, he believes the effort is worthwhile, suggesting that the benefits exceed the downsides. Ajit Agarkar enthusiastically recommends Pilates to anyone who has not tried it, pointing out how it has greatly improved both his general health and his athletic abilities. 'Anyone who's not tried it yet, I'd certainly advocate it because it has helped me a lot throughout my cricketing career and even after,' Ajit Agarkar said in the video. Ajit Agarkar started playing golf after he quit playing cricket, and he said Pilates has helped him play better on the course. He characterises his most recent sessions as pleasurable, emphasising that new elements are added daily to make the workouts engaging and entertaining. Ajit Agarkar's enthusiastic endorsement encourages everyone to discover the advantages of Pilates, irrespective of their level of athletic experience.
BBC News
26-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Shubman Gill: A new chapter begins as India's Test captain
Nearly three weeks after Rohit Sharma's sudden retirement from Test cricket, the Indian cricket board has ended speculation of his successor by naming Shubman Gill as India's new captain for the upcoming five-Test series against England in 25, Gill becomes India's 37th Test captain - and one of its youngest, after Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and Ravi appointment marks a turning point for Indian cricket. The squad he leads is without batting greats Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, spin stalwart R Ashwin who retired six months ago, and pace spearhead Mohammed Shami, who was sidelined due to fitness team is rich in young batting talent but will miss the experience of Kohli and Sharma. Despite Jaspreet Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mohammad Siraj, the bowling attack still feels a touch raw. Adding to Gill's challenge: India haven't won a Test series in England since appointment followed intense deliberations between chief selector Ajit Agarkar, coach Gautam Gambhir, and backchannel talks with other Bumrah seemed the natural choice after serving as vice-captain in Australia, concerns over his ability to shoulder the workload of a five-Test series tipped the scales in Gill's favour. A prodigy from Punjab state, Gill has long carried the weight of expectation with burst into the spotlight in 2014, not yet 15, hammering 351 in a world-record opening stand of 587 with Nirmal Singh in the Punjab Inter-District ML Markan Trophy. It was a knock that vindicated his family's bold move from the border village of Chak Kherewala to Mohali, seeking better training and greater exposure for the young run-getting as a junior, fast-tracked him into the under-19 ranks which is where Gill really made his first big of the team that played the 2017-18 U-19 World Cup, he emerged as the top run aggregator for India, highlighted by a skilful, unbeaten 102 against arch rivals Pakistan in the semi-final. In the final where India beat Australia, Gill scored a handy the time, all eyes were on Prithvi Shaw - the U-19 captain whose Mumbai schoolboy feats drew comparisons with Tendulkar. His rise was meteoric: a Test debut century, another soon after. But by 2020, his career had begun to sidelined, Gill made an immediate impact on his Ranji Trophy debut with a half-century, followed by a century. Under Yuvraj Singh's mentorship, he sharpened both his batting and game runs pushed selectors to consider Gill as Shaw's replacement. He debuted in Tests in Melbourne, December 2020, during India's memorable comeback series and graceful, Gill's technical precision and elegant stroke play - especially front of the wicket - set him apart as a promising young talent. Nicknamed the 'Prince' by his family, the title soon became his cricketing identity. Hailed as the Next Big Thing, he's widely tipped to succeed Virat Kohli as the next generation's leading promise remains unproven. Like Kohli, Gill is an all-format player, but unlike Kohli's early dominance, Gill has yet to display the same ambition and match-winning impact - especially in Tests, where his 1,893 runs in 32 matches are solid but not outstanding. Gill's first captaincy, less than five years after his Test debut, comes at a crucial point in his enough international experience to elevate his batting from good to great, he now faces a stern test against England's Bazball style of play in challenging conditions. Success here would be a major boost to his standing as a top Test it is as captain that Gill probably faces tougher England series kicked off India's new World Test Championship cycle, following two finals appearances but a disappointing early exit in the last one. India's recent Test form has been poor, with back-to-back series losses to New Zealand and pull India out of the current rut, Gill will have to lead the way as batter as well as captain in charge of a new-look team, whose dressing-room and dynamics he will have to understand and, perhaps, reshape."Gill is a young man we are investing in not just for one series, but for the next five-six years to take Indian cricket ahead,'' said chief selector Ajit should be a tremendous reassurance for the new captain. While his appointment brings its share of pressure, it also carries immense hope - and an opportunity to carve his own legacy in Indian cricket history.
New Indian Express
25-05-2025
- Sport
- New Indian Express
India vs England: The No 4 conundrum
EVEN as chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the 18-member squad for the five-Test series in England and answered several questions on Saturday, there were a few that he had left to the newly named captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir to decide. And it was understandable. There was no reason why Agarkar or India had to spell out their batting order three weeks before the first Test in Leeds. One of the questions was about who will bat at No 4. In many ways, it has been a legacy position of sorts for Indian cricket. And with good reason. From the time Sachin Tendulkar walked out at No 4 against Australia during his maiden tour Down Under in 1992, the position has predominantly been held by two people. First it was Tendulkar and then, former India captain Virat Kohli. Unless there were tactical calls or injuries or exigent circumstances, by and large, the aforementioned duo had made the position their own, carrying forward the legacy. Which is why, at this point, the majority opening, seems to be the case of Gill dropping himself down to No 4 with B Sai Sudharsan or Abhimanyu Easwaran coming in at No 3. And it makes sense considering Gill batted a fair bit in the middle-order before becoming a Test opener for India. It would allow him to come at a time when the sideways movement has reduced and also lead from the front with the bat by holding the batting line-up together.
The Hindu
25-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Gill pads up for captaincy innings
A little after 1.30 pm on Saturday, Ajit Agarkar formalised what everyone invested in Indian cricket knew was a foregone conclusion. The chairman of selectors officially announced Shubman Gill's coronation as India's 37th Test captain, making the 25-year-old the fifth youngest to occupy the hottest sporting seat in the country. Gill is already a semi-veteran, if you like, with 108 international appearances since his debut in a One-Day International in Hamilton in January 2019. Ahead of Season 17 of the Indian Premier League, he didn't have a great deal of captaincy experience but in the last 14 months, he has evolved as an excellent leader of men at Gujarat Titans, where he has handled superstars and emerging heroes from India and overseas with aplomb and empathy. One of the more important but less acknowledged traits in a good leader is the ability to walk in their colleagues' shoes. That's something Gill is certain to have picked up from Rohit Sharma, his predecessor who walked away into the Test sunset earlier this month after three years in charge. The sign of a good student is the willingness and the ability to learn from others while sticking to their own natural grain. In his six years at the highest level, Gill has shown himself to be a quick learner, though he must now learn on the job, and even more quickly, as he embarks on an exciting but unquestionably arduous new chapter. First task The Punjab batter's immediate challenge is a five-Test tour of England starting in less than a month's time. In more than 90 years, India have won only three series in that country – famously in 1971 under Ajit Wadekar when they completed the West Indies-England double in less than six months, under Kapil Dev in 1986 and then in 2007 when Rahul Dravid emulated Wadekar by backing up a 1-0 triumph in the Caribbean a year previously with a similar result in England. As if that statistic isn't daunting enough, Gill must make do without three formidable pillars of Indian cricket, who all retired from the five-day game within five months of each other. Off-spinner supreme R. Ashwin pulled the plug on his international career in Brisbane in December, while Rohit's retirement was followed five days later by Virat Kohli's, a development of seismic magnitude whose import will become obvious in the next several weeks. Even with these stalwarts, India couldn't put it past England in the latter's backyard. It will therefore be unrealistic to expect Gill to wave a magic wand and get the job done, especially in his maiden foray as the Test captain. In that regard, there is a little less pressure on Gill than there has been on any Indian captain for a long time now. The 25-year-old is an investment for the long term and the principal decision-makers will be indulgent enough for him to make mistakes and learn from them, but they are within their rights to hope for him to repay the faith they have placed in his leadership abilities. In various quarters, K.L. Rahul was viewed as a possible Rohit successor. There is no little merit in that line of thought; the 33-year-old from Bengaluru has captained the country in all three formats and has plenty of cricket left in him, apart from being the senior-most specialist batter in the Test squad. For some reason, the theory that Rahul would be a 'stop-gap' skipper gathered pace. Gill was the beneficiary of that perception because, at eight years younger, he is seen as a more viable longer term option. Never mind. That ship has sailed. Gill is the Test captain and now there is no scope/necessity for and merit in nitpicking. He will require all the support he can get when he first walks out for the toss with Ben Stokes at Leeds' Headingley on June 20, aware that he is carrying a heavy load on his shoulders but also that a rare honour has been conferred on him and that he has the opportunity now to take his team to special things. Young and dynamic duo By naming Rishabh Pant as Gill's deputy, Agarkar and his fellow band of wise men have installed a young and dynamic leadership duo to take the team forward, convinced that both have the wherewithal to look after not just their own cricket but also the others around them. There is no shortage of experience or wisdom even in the absence of the Rohit-Kohli-Ashwin triumvirate. Gill will benefit from the sagacity of the unflappable Rahul and the incomparable Jasprit Bumrah, both not just exceptional cricketers but also committed team men. Bumrah would have been the front-runner for the captaincy if, one suspects, this was a three- rather than a five-Test series. His body, especially his back which has been ravaged by injuries, needs to be handled with care and the opinion of the medical staff is that he shouldn't be playing in all five Tests in England. That being the case, to make him the captain wasn't practical. Bumrah has led India in three Tests previously and hasn't done a shabby job of it, but his bowling is far too valuable for captaincy to throw a spanner in the works, a point acknowledged both by the champion himself and Agarkar's panel. Gill has come in for great praise from those who have played alongside and under him at the Titans. He has undoubtedly benefited from the nous and intelligence of Ashish Nehra, the head coach who sometimes gives the impression of leading from the sidelines, and evolved as a deep thinker of the game. From the time Rohit sat himself out of the Sydney Test at the start of the year owing to poor form, Gill was perceived as his successor. He was sounded out by head coach Gautam Gambhir and Agarkar and wasn't just receptive to the possibility of taking over as the skipper, he was positively excited at that prospect. Now that he has the job, Gill's focus will be two-fold – to get his colleagues to give off their best and play with flair and substance, sure, but also to ensure that his own bat catches fire. For all his brilliance in Asia, Gill outside the subcontinent is a massive underachiever. His first Test series, in Australia in 2020-21, was a standout success, the highlight a classy 91 that set up India's successful chase of 328 at the Gabbatoir in January 2021. But since then, he has failed to make an impression in the so-called SENA – South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia – countries or in the Caribbean, where he voluntarily dropped down to No. 3 in July 2023. In his last 18 innings in these five lands, he has a highest of 36; his overall Test average is 35.05 from 32 matches. Gill is aware, more than anyone else, that these numbers must change, rapidly. He has seen from close quarters, especially when Rohit was in charge, the virtues of leading by example. Batting position Where Gill will bat is a subject of much conjecture. Agarkar left the door open when it came to the batting order by saying that was a call for Gill and Gambhir to make. Until Headingley transpires, it must be assumed that Gill will drop one slot down to No. 4, occupied in the immediate past by Kohli and for nearly two decades before that by Sachin Tendulkar. On its own, without the crown on his head, that is a daunting responsibility but Gill has shown in this IPL, more than ever before, that he thrives under pressure and responsibility. Gill has a reasonably inexperienced batting group to work with. Abhimanyu Easwaran and B. Sai Sudharsan haven't played a Test, while Karun Nair returns to the fold after eight years in the wilderness. While there is a more solid look to the bowling even in the absence of the overlooked Mohammed Shami, India's batting has seldom looked as undercooked going into a major – any? – Test tour. As such, Gill will feel the need to pull his weight, with no little help from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul, Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, among others. It's when things don't go to plan that Gill's poise and composure will be tested. A good leader doesn't allow his inner panic to come to the surface because there is nothing more demoralising for players than a captain looking lost and bereft of ideas. He will be sorely tested, make no mistake, by Stokes' England, who scored at more than five and a half runs an over during their innings victory over Zimbabwe in a four-day Test in Nottingham which ended on Saturday. Under the Stokes-Brendon McCullum management group, England have gone about redefining Test match batting, and if the likes of Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, Joe Root and the skipper himself get cracking, the headaches for any fielding captain will snowball alarmingly. Gill will find himself at the receiving end quite a few times, of that there is no doubt. That's where he will hope for Bumrah to rouse himself into battle but as superhuman as he might appear, there's also only that much that Bumrah can do. Gill's task will be to get the best out of the others, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav included, so that it doesn't become Bumrah and the rest; only time will tell whether Gill is a bowlers' captain. Unlike some shackled by the cares of captaincy, Gill revels in that role. He won't don the skipper's hat (helmet?) when he is batting, which is just as well because there are so many other things to consider with bat in hand. He might be able to control his batting, but how he runs the ship when his side is in the field will provide some indication of what the future holds for India. And their newest Test captain.
NDTV
25-05-2025
- Sport
- NDTV
Shubman Gill's 1st Reaction After Becoming India Test Captain: "As A Young Kid..."
India's newly-appointed Test captain Shubman Gill opened up about the opportunity and called it a huge honour. Gill was appointed captain for the upcoming Test series against England with Rishabh Pant becoming his deputy. Gill, who has played as an opener as well as No. 3 for the Indian cricket team in the format, will succeed Rohit as the India captain. Gill said that it was his dream as a young kid to captain India in Tests one day and added that it will be a massive responsibility for him. 'As a young kid, when anyone starts playing cricket, they want to play for India. Not just play for India, but play Test cricket for India for a very long time. To be able to get this opportunity is a great honour and like you said, it's a big responsibility," Gill said in a short video posted by the BCCI. Earlier, Ajit Agarkar explained the reason behind Gill's appointment as Test captain. "We discussed every option that's there, over the last year or so, we've looked at Shubman at various times. Taken a lot of feedback from the dressing room. Very young, but there's been improvement.' 'We're hopeful he's the guy. He's a terrific player, our best wishes to him. You don't pick captains for one tour or two tours. We've seen some progress over the last year or two with him. No doubt it's going to be as tough as it gets," said chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Gill's elevation as captain. Gill's previous leadership experiences in the Indian team included a 4-1 T20I series win in Zimbabwe last year and the white-ball vice-captain of the 2025 Champions Trophy-winning side in Dubai. Gill has played as an opener and number three batter for India in Tests, and he now takes up the leadership role after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the format earlier this month. In 32 Tests, Gill has scored 1893 runs at an average of 35.1, with five centuries and seven fifties against his name. The 25-year-old is currently leading Gujarat Titans who are on top of the IPL 2025 points table and are set to feature in the playoffs. His GT teammates and coaching staff members have lauded Gill for his proactiveness, calmness and tactical nous. In the squad, Karun Nair returns to the Test team after seven years, while Arshdeep Singh and B Sai Sudharsan get their maiden Test call-ups. There's no place for veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, who Agarkar said is not fully fit to handle the rigours of playing Test cricket.
