Satyakam Abhishek
At that time it was the era of Australia’s Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath. The biggest batsmen used to tremble before facing the balls of these two kangaroo bowlers. This time was before 2000. In this period, on April 1, 1998, a lean player from India made his debut in One Day International cricket. That too against Australia. Australia was considered formidable during this period. The name of this budding Indian player was Ajit Agarkar. So thin that people used to say that if strong wind comes, it will fly away in the air. But this player, in his career of almost a decade, fiercely fired the batsmen of the opposition camp.
Before 2000, there was no bowler from India who could bowl at a speed of 130 kilometers per hour. But there were discussions about Agarkar that he bowls very fast. In that era, crazy cricket fans like us were also getting happy knowing about this bowler. In those days, TV used to be in some house in the village. So we used to listen to the commentary on the radio.
the words of the commentator
Batting first in this match, India had set a mammoth target of 309 runs thanks to Ajay Jadeja’s century. Well, when it was our turn to bowl, we glued our ears to the radio. When the commentator started talking about Agarkar, our chest was also getting bigger. He was comparing Agarkar with Damian Fleming and Michael Kasprowicz of Australia team. When Agarkar came to bowl the first ball, the commentator was very excited and said that now this young man, who is one of the fastest bowlers in India, will bowl. The first ball was hit and came out sensational near the batsman’s ear.
In this match, Agarkar dismissed veteran batsman Adam Gilchrist for 31 runs in 5 overs. After this, slowly Agarkar went on to become an umbrella in the sky of cricket. The title of the bowler who took the fastest 50 wickets in ODIs remained in his name for a long time. He made his Test debut against Zimbabwe in October 1998 itself. However, he did not get a chance to play much international T20. And in a year he could play only 4 matches.
When we used to discuss, how does this ‘skeleton’ throw the ball so fast
In those days, it used to be a matter of discussion among us that how this lean man could throw such a fast ball. Even in the village we started calling fast bowlers as Agarkar. At that time newspapers used to publish a lot of news about Agarkar’s fast bowling and we all used to read them with interest. Before Agarkar, Javagal Srinath was discussed, but after Agarkar’s arrival, the children of that era started competing to become Agarkar. There were many people who also used to say that if this bowler becomes a little healthy and can bowl fast. Well this was a joke. In the years to come, Agarkar ruled the cricket field fiercely.
Now ‘Diamonds’ will choose for Team India
Now Agarkar has been made the chief selector of BCCI. He has played 26 Tests, 191 ODIs and 4 T20 Internationals in his career spanning nearly a decade. He took a total of 58 wickets in Tests. He has 288 wickets in ODIs while a total of 3 wickets in T20. Now he has the responsibility of picking ‘diamonds’ for Team India.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own.