Thursday, December 4, 2014

  1. Ajit Agarkar
    Cricketer
  2. Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar is a former Indian international cricketer, who had represented India in more than 200 international matches. Wikipedia
  3. BornDecember 4, 1977 (age 37), Mumbai
  4. Height1.70 m
  5. Ajit Agarkar

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Ajit Agarkar
    Ajit Agarkar.jpg
    Personal information
    Full nameAjit Bhalchandra Agarkar
    Born4 December 1977 (age 37)
    BombayMaharashtraIndia
    Batting styleRight-handed
    Bowling styleRight-arm fast-medium
    RoleAll-rounder
    International information
    National side
    Test debut(cap 216)7 October 1998 v Zimbabwe
    Last Test13 January 2006 v Pakistan
    ODI debut(cap 111)1 April 1998 v Australia
    Last ODI5 September 2007 v England
    T20I debut (cap 1)1 December 2006 v South Africa
    Last T20I16 September 2007 v New Zealand
    Domestic team information
    YearsTeam
    1996–presentMumbai
    2008–2010Kolkata Knight Riders
    2011-presentDelhi Daredevils
    Career statistics
    CompetitionTestODIFCLA
    Matches26191103267
    Runs scored571126931172252
    Batting average16.7914.5828.0817.73
    100s/50s1/00/33/150/8
    Top score109*95109*95
    Balls bowled485794841723213146
    Wickets58288282412
    Bowling average47.3227.8531.0326.44
    5 wickets in innings12123
    10 wickets in match0n/a0n/a
    Best bowling6/416/426/416/18
    Catches/stumpings6/–52/–36/–69/–
    Source: Cricinfo, 28 June 2012
    Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar About this sound pronunciation  (born 4 December 1977) is a former Indian international cricketer, who had represented India in more than 200 international matches. He played for the Delhi Daredevils and the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL and captained Mumbai to its 40th Ranji Trophy title in 2013. He made his Test and ODI debuts in 1998 and T20I debut in 2006. He is the third highest wicket-taker for India in ODIs and has represented India in the1999 Cricket World Cup2003 cricket world cup where India reached into the finals but Ajit Agarkar didn't feature in any of the world cup matches, the 2007 cricket world cup and the 2007 ICC World Twenty20.

    Personal life[edit]

    Born in a Chitpavan Brahmin family, he was raised by his grandparents at Shivaji Park where many a great cricketer have practised and went on to play for India. He went Shardashram Vidyamandir school and was later coached by Ramakant Achrekar. He is an alumnus of Ruparel College in Matunga. He married Fatima Ghadially, a Muslim Shia girl from Mumbai. They have a son named Raj. He lives with his family at Narayan Pujari Nagar on Worli Seaface in South Mumbai[1]

    Bowling style[edit]

    He has a relatively short figure as compared to his other fast bowling counterparts. But he could still bowl at speeds more than 90 mph (~145 km/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 ball gets old...

    Career[edit]

    Agarkar made his ODI debut against Australia at Kochi, on 1 April 1998. He took the wicket of Adam Gilchrist in that match.
    Soon after his debut, a 20-year old Agarkar achieved his first Man of the match award in a crucial Coca cola champions trophy match against Sri Lanka taking three crucial wickets folding Sri Lanka for just 98.[2]
    Amongst Agarkar's better performances were his performances in Australia in the Test series of 1999, and also in the test series in 2003. At Adelaide Oval in 2003, Agarkar took 6/41, to help India to win their first test in Australia in over 20 years. Agarkar has performed better in ODI cricket, where he takes wickets regularly, although his economy rate is high.He has also had a number of good batting performances. He was the best Indian bowler in the one day series during India's tour of West Indies in 2006.
    As a batsman, Agarkar is one of the few players who scored a Test century at Lords against England during India's tour to England in 2002 when he scored 109 not out. Although India lost the test, his batting skills were quite noticeable. He also holds the record of the fastest fifty in ODI's for India when he scored 67 not out in 25 balls at Rajkot against Zimbabwe in 2000.[3] However,his batting exploits have been frequently overshadowed by seven consecutive instances of no scoring against Australia, five in Australia and two at home.[4] His first four dismissal also happened to have been on the first ball he faced.
    He is currently the 3rd highest wicket taker (288) for India in ODI's after Javagal Srinath (315) and Anil Kumble (337). One of the his notable performances in the domestic cricket came in the 2009-10 Ranji trophy finals against Karnataka in which he took 5 wickets in the second innings ensuring a narrow win for Mumbai.
    Agarkar represented Kolkata Knight Riders in Indian Premier League for three seasons. In the fourth season, he was contracted by Delhi Daredevils for US$210,000.
    In February 2012 it was announced that Agarkar would captain Mumbai in the 2012 Vijay Hazare Trophy.[5]
    He was also the captain of the Mumbai that won the 2013 Ranji Trophy. Though his performance was rather lacklustre in the initial parts of the 2013 Ranji Trophy, yet towards the end of the tournament he showed his class. In the quarter final, he scored 52* (from 53 balls) against Baroda to ensure a mammoth total of 645/9 declared. In the semi final againstServices, he scored 145 and gave a 246-run 7th wicket partnership with wicket keeper Aditya Tare (120) to rescue Mumbai from 169/6, and take the total to 454/8 declared.
    On 16th Oct 2013, Ajit Agarkar announced his retirement from all forms of cricket just before the start of the 2013-14 Ranji season.[6]

    As an all-rounder[edit]

    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,[7] in another knock 95 against West Indies in 2002 at Jamshedpur when he was sent up the order at number 3.[8] In the same season in 2002 he joined the group of few Indians to have scored a century at the Mecca of Cricket, Lord's, when he scored a century in the first test of series batting at no. 8.[9] A century at Lords has eluded even the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting.
    He got a runner up medal in 2003 world cup which was a surprised achievement for him.

    Records[edit]

    Early in his career, Agarkar broke Dennis Lillee's world record for the fastest 50 wickets in ODIs, achieving the feat from only 23 matches. He held the record from 1998 until 2009, when Ajantha Mendis achieved the feat from just 19 matches. Agarkar holds the Indian record of scoring the fastest 50 in ODI: he scored 50 of 21 balls. Agarkar also holds another ODI record, which is the quickest in terms of least number of matches played to take 200 wickets and complete 1000 runs. Agarkar achieved this feat in 133 matches breaking the previous record held by South African Shaun Pollock, who accomplished this feat in his 138th match.
    He scored an unbeaten Test century at Lord's in 2002, batting at number eight.
    Conversely, Agarkar attained the feat of seven consecutive innings resulting in ducks (four of them first ball) against Australia, an unfortunate honour.[10][11] The wicket takers were Damien FlemingBrett LeeMark WaughBrett Lee andGlenn McGrath.

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