Ajit Agarkar by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

---

Player:

AB Agarkar

---

DateLine: 18th April 2009

 

Slight, fiery and gifted, Ajit Agarkar never came to terms with being Kapil Dev's replacement as India's match-winner with bat and ball. The ingredients were there, and in the right proportions, but never formed a heady and long-lasting mix. Agarkar's entry into international cricket - with an avalanche of wickets that made him the then fastest to 50 in ODIs - was matched for speed only by an astonishing batting slump during which he collected seven consecutive Test ducks against Australia. But he could bat, because tail-enders simply do not score half-centuries in 21 balls, as Agarkar did in a one-day game against Zimbabwe, or score Test centuries at Lord's, as Agarkar did in some style in 2002. His aggression is an asset, but the body cannot sometimes support it. He turned into a one-day specialist - arguably India's most effective ODI bowler in 2005-06 - but a disappointing World Cup campaign resulted in him being dropped for the Bangladesh series that followed.