CRICKETERS OF INDIA – AJIT AGARKAR
INDIAN CRICKETER – AJIT BHALCHANDRA AGARKAR
Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar (born 4 December 1977) is an Indian international cricketer, who has been on the fringes of the Indian side in both tests and one day matches since his debut in 1998. He is a fast bowling all-rounder, in the mould of Kapil Dev, who usually bats just below the wicket keeper at number 8, and often opens the bowling. A resident of Narayan Pujari Nagar on Worli Seaface, he was raised by his grandparents at Shivaji Park where many a great cricketer practised and went on to play for India. He is an alumnus of Ruparel College in Matunga, Mumbai. He is married to a Muslim girl, Fatima Ghadially and they have a son named Raj.
He has a relatively short figure as compared to his other fast bawling counterparts. But still he could bowl at speeds more than 90MpH (~145km/hr) owing to his athletic body and a good run up speed. He has had a knack to bowl the reverse swing deliveries when the bowl gets old. He is a right hand batsman .He has been a decent batsman in ODIs and tests with a highest score of 95 and 109* respectively in each format.He usually bats lower down the order but has batted top of the order in ODIs.
He was touted by many as being India’s next great fast bowling all-rounder, like Kapil Dev, however his performances have never been consistent enough. In ODIs there was a time when john wright used to send him as a pinch hitter in ODIs up the order to increase the scoring rate.He demonstrated good batting skills with no slogging . Some of his acclaimed knocks in ODIs are when he smacked the fastest 50 by an indian off 21 balls in 2000 against Zimbabwe and took 3 wickets as well in that match, in another knock 95 against west indies in 2002 at jamshedpur. In the same season in 2002 he joined the group of few Indians to have scored a century at the mecca of cricket, The Lords, when he scored a century in the first test of series batting at no. 8. A century at Lords has eluded even the like Of Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting.
