Ajit Agarkar played 191 ODIs, 26 Tests and 4 T20Is for India. He was most successful in the 50-over format and is the third-highest wicket-taker (288) for India. He was more than a handy batsman too and bailed the Men in Blue out of trouble on multiple occasions.
He is an alumnus of Sharadashram School, the same place from cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Amol Mazumdar and Pravin Amre emerged. A prodigy, Agarkar not only went on to play for Mumbai for more than a decade but also led them in Ranji Trophy. Just to give you an idea, the abundance of talent competing for a place in Mumbai’s squad is more than some of the national sides.
Break in International Cricket and Records
The fast bowler from Mumbai was selected for the India’s Under-19 team in 1997 and was quick to make his mark by scoring a century against a Sri Lankan side which had Kumar Sangakkara. Within a year he was a part of the senior team.
Agarkar also converted his potential into performance by becoming the quickest bowler to reach 50 wickets in just 23 matches. A record that he held for more than ten years until Ajantha Mendis broke it in 2008. Most of the fans are aware of this record but what they don’t know is that he was also the fastest Indian to reach 150, 200 and 250 wickets in ODIs. He achieved this feat in 97, 133 and 160 matches.
He finished his career with 288 wickets in ODIs which is third highest behind Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath. Now, here is a man who has more wickets than Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra.
A Decent Batting Record
In 2000, he broke Kapil Dev’s record of fastest fifty in ODIs by smashing it in just 21 balls. Interestingly, Sehwag, Yuvraj and even Rahul Dravid scored a fifty off 22 balls and equalled Kapil Dev but even today, Agarkar holds that record.
Lord’s is the stadium of dreams for any batsman, and every single player who plays on that pitch wants to get his name on that honours board. Legends like Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman couldn’t do what Agarkar did! In 2002, he smashed 109 runs against England at Lord’s.
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