Ajit Agarkar

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ajit Agarkar

• Ajit Agarkar is a former Indian cricketer who played for the national team across tests and one-dayers as the spearhead bowler in the late 1990s along with Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, and Ashish Nehra. He was also included in India’s maiden T20I game against South Africa in December 2006. He is widely known for his short rhythmic run-up who can deliver express speeds and swing the ball both ways. As a batter, he was successful as a lower-order hard-hitter.

• He started his cricket career as a batter during childhood before he was introduced to Ramakant Achrekar by his father.

  

• His first major batting performance came in the inter-school Giles Shield tournament for the Under-16s when he scored a triple century at the age of 15. Carrying that form forward, he displayed a show-stealer show in the Harris Shield under-19 tournament where he was been disguised as the next “Tendulkar” in the making.

  

• Besides batting, when he got to know that an allrounder was required in the Bombay Ranji team, he started focussing on bowling skills as well. His key skills include bowling conventional swing at the start of the inning and reverse swing later in the game.

• He scored a century against the Sri Lankan Under-19 team in 1997. Sri Lanka’s team was led by Kumar Sangakkara and India team by Akash Chopra. Apart from this, he has also represented India’s U-17s against England’s U-17s. He made his Ranji debut in 1996/97 for Bombay against Gujarat.

  

• Soon, he made his international debut against Australia in ODIs in 1998. It was the first match of the Pepsi Triangular Series. India posted 309 runs in the first inning. Australia when came out to bat, had a century stand for the opening wicket when both Javagal Srinath and Ajit Agarkar struck the major blows for Australia when Srinath dismissed Mark Waugh and Ajit Agarkar took the wicket of Adam Gilchrist. Gilchrist missed the line of the ball and edged it towards slip in the safe hands of captain Azharuddin. Agarkar finished with 31 runs in 5 overs with an economy of 6.20 in that match.

• His most famous spell came against Australia on 12 December 2003 at Adelaide Oval in a 2nd test match. It was a match where India won after beating Australia in Australia after twenty-two years. Australia was batting first and put on the mighty 556 runs. Ajit Agarkar took two wickets in that inning of Simon Katich and Adam Gilchrist. India in reply scored 523 runs. Then came the bowling performance that shifted the match towards India. Agarkar dismissed their opener Justin Langer LBW. Captain Ricky Ponting too couldn’t stay for much longer and got dismissed when the team’s score was 18. Likewise, the other four batters; Simon Katich, Andy Bichel, Jason Gillespie, and Stuart Macgill felt cheap and Australia could only manage 196 runs and gave India the target of 230 to chase. India went on to win this match. Ajit finished his match spell with 8 wickets for 160 runs.

  

• But Ajit Agarkar; the ODI bowler was most popular as Ajit Agarkar; the Test bowler. His performance in his debut ODI series bagged the selectors one more chance to play him in the next series which was against New Zealand at Sharjah on 17 April 1998. India was defending 220 runs. Agarkar bowled the opening spell and took the wicket in the very first over of their inning. Nathan Astle then had a partnership of 85 runs with the captain Stephen Fleming after which Agarkar dismissed Fleming on a team’s score of 170. New Zealand got all out on 205 runs with Agarkar taking four wickets after conceding 35 runs in 10 overs. He continued to impress everyone when he took 16 wickets in the next 5 games he played against Zimbabwe, New Zealand, and Australia.

  

• During a test match on 25 July 2002, Ajit Agarkar registered his name on the Lords honor’s board by scoring a century against the rival; England. He took three wickets during England’s 2nd innings but that didn’t stop the host to set a mammoth target of 568 runs on the board. India on the other hand, when greats like Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar failed to score big, Agarkar scored unbeaten 109, however, couldn’t prevent his team’s defeat by 170 runs.

  

• On 6 November 2002, Ajit Agarkar scored 95 runs against West Indies coming at number three as a pinch hitter. Although, India lost the match by four wickets.

• He was part of the squad when India played their first T20I ever against South Africa at Durban on 1 December 2006. In this match, India won convincingly and Agarkar took wickets of their star batters Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers.

  

• Ajit Agarkar had a very interesting love story. He met his wife through their common friend in 1998 and then during a 1999 Cricket World Cup in East Africa when Fatima came with her brother to see a match where Agarkar was playing, they both fell in love with each other. However, Fatima being from a Muslim background, it was difficult to convince their parents, but soon they both succeeded to convince and in 2002, Agarkar and Fatima both tied a knot.

  

• Sachin Tendulkar once gave his gloves to Agarkar for his batting performance in the domestic circuit. Recalling that moment, Agarkar told, ^[20]Orissa Post
  

  “Sachin gave me gloves. We were in the same school and he thought someone was performing well and so he gave me gloves. I didn’t know him much then. I did not use his pads, maybe I could have become a better batsman if I had used his pad.”

• Ajit Agarkar house is a three-bedroom hall of an area of 1,500-sq ft. It is designed by Sandesh Prabhu. Talking about his home, Agarkar told, ^[21]Housing.com
  

  “Home is the place, where I can relax and unwind and spend time with my family and friends. It is my comfort zone and it totally uplifts my mood, no matter how tired I am. We have been living here for the past 10 years and Parel is well-connected and is in the heart of the city. Our extended families are in Dadar and Cuffe Parade and from Parel, it is easy to commute. All basic facilities are close by. We have plenty of options for dining and shopping, with Phoenix Mall and Kamala Mills in the vicinity.”

  

  

• Speaking on Sourav Ganguly after becoming the new BCCI chief, Agarkar said, ^[22]Deccan Chronicle
  

  “Sourav is probably the captain I played most matches under. And we all know what kind of a leader he has been throughout his career. He played a lot of cricket, so I expect good things to happen under him. He’s a person with great clarity and knows what exactly he wants — he’s quite a character.”

• In an interview with a youtube channel, he revealed that a century at Lords is a dream come true for him. He also considers Zaheer Khan as his closest friend. Interestingly, Agarkar has a better bowling average and a better strike rate than both Zaheer and Srinath.

• He retired from all forms of the game in 2013. Post-retirement, he started working as a cricket analyst, the chairman of the Mumbai senior selection committee, and then the Indian National Team’s Selector.

• He has bowled in 46 innings in 26 test matches and took 58 wickets with a bowling average of 47.32 runs per wicket. Interestingly, 30 out of those wickets came against Australia. The year 2003 was his most successful year with 16 wickets. His best bowling is 6 for 41 which came against Australia at Adelaide in 2003-04. In all, he has bowled 809.3 overs and conceded 2745 runs with an economy of 3.39. His best bowling position is 2nd number where he has taken 27 wickets. Talking about his batting in the longest format, he has scored 571 runs with an average of 16.79. His highest score was 109 not out which came against England at Lords in 2002. During that course, he has hit 89 fours and three sixes. He has played under the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Virender Sehwag.

• Besides Tests, he has featured in 191 matches and taken 288 wickets with a bowling average of 27.85 per wicket. Interestingly, he has exactly 100 maidens in ODI with an economy of 5.07. His best bowling is 6 for 42 which came against Australia on 9 January 2004 at Melbourne in a losing cause. He has two 5 wicket-haul in ODIs. The other one was against Sri Lanka at Pune in 2005. He has also taken ten 4-wicket hauls. He has taken his most ODI wickets against Sri Lanka (49) followed by Zimbabwe (45). His best economy against the test-playing nations is against Bangladesh with 4.04 runs per over. Apart from the Indian sub-continent, he has taken most of his wickets in U.A.E. Year 1998 is the most successful time where he has taken 58 wickets in 30 matches. Talking about his batting skills, he has scored 1269 runs with an average and strike rate of 14.58 and 80.62% respectively. During that course, he has hit 103 fours and 22 sixes. He has played under the captaincy of Ajay Jadeja, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, and Virender Sehwag.

• He has played just 4 T20I and taken 3 wickets with an economy of 8.09. The 4 T20I he has played are against South Africa, Scotland, Pakistan, and New Zealand. He has played only under the captaincy of Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni in T2oI.

  

• On 4 July 2023, the BCCI appointed Ajit Agarkar as the chairman of the BCCI senior men’s selection committee. ^[23]Hindustan Times