Au revoir Ajit Agarkar!
People who have been Indian cricket fans and have been born in the 1990’s don’t have much option when it comes to liking an Indian pace bowler during the days of their childhood. Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan are the only ones who have had the impact. And when it comes to speed Agarkar was the only one who used to clock 140+ kmph on a consistent basis.
The man who was one of the best in the world in his early days went on to take 280 plus ODI wickets but was a bit unlucky. Yes, this guy gave too much runs and had a higher economy rate. But he was a delight to watch. A genuine aggressive action, ability to bowl Yorkers made him a captain’s delight.At one time he was the fastest in the world to reach fifty wickets in limited over’s cricket.
Agarkar was the master when it came to cleaning up the tail. His 1st spell has always been too expensive, but during the death he proved to be too lethal for the batsmen. Having started his career in domestic cricket as a batsman he did know how to handle the willow. Had he focussed more on his batting, he could have turned out to be one of the fast bowling all rounders, the Indian team is still searching for.
And as I said he has been a bit unlucky, he was the first to be dropped from the team whenever the team didn’t fare well in any tournament. Though he has made numerous comebacks to the Indian side. He could have played for a longer period had he been consistent and kept his economy in check. He was a wicket taking bowler, and captain’s relish having a bowler in the playing eleven who could provide them breakthroughs at crucial junctures of a match.
Had he been handled and groomed well, he could have been India’s best fast bowler till date, especially after the kind of start he got in his career. But we all know India is a country where fast bowlers fade out after an impressive year or so. Ajit had mastered swing bowling and his experience will be very much needed in times to come.
Hope he uses his experience and gives something back to cricket.