| Series | Countries | Live Scores | Fixtures | Results | News |
Features
|
Photos | Video & Audio | Blogs | Statistics | Archive | Games | Mobile | ||||||||||||||||||||
Five Firsts
Feeds
Feeds
Cricketers on their milestones
|
Ajit Agarkar
Smashing Lillee's record and Waugh's elbow
Ajit Agarkar liked to stick it to the Aussies
Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi
January 27, 2013
|
|||
|
Related Links
Teams:
India
|
|||
First time I sent the stumps flying
I did not send the stumps flying exactly, but the first time I hit the timber was Zimbabwe's Andy Whittall's stump, with an inswinging yorker in my second ODI, in Vadodara. Zimbabwe were cruising at one point and we bounced back in a close match.
First record
The fastest to 50 ODI wickets, in my first season, in 1998. At the time I was not aware it was a record. I only knew I had got to 50 wickets. I was 20 then and I was just excited and keen to play as much as I could. Someone soon told me that I had broken Dennis Lillee's long-standing record of 18 years - I took one match less than him to reach the landmark. My record did not stand for long, though. Ajantha Mendis broke it in 2009.
First batsman to leave me speechless
Adam Gilchrist. Our first face-off took place during my debut ODI, in the Pepsi tri-series, in Kochi. Everyone was talking about the Waugh brothers but Gilchrist exploded onto the scene and caught everyone by surprise. He was my first wicket, but by the time he left he had smashed us into submission. It came as a shock, even though India went on to win the match. Back then we played with the red ball and I tried to swing the ball both ways. Gilly always cut and pulled off his legs well but the cover drives he played to my best deliveries with the new ball were a completely new experience for me.
First time I drew blood
The closest I have come was spoiling Steve Waugh's farewell Test series, when I hit him on the elbow at the MCG in 2003. He had entered to massive applause and straightaway I tried to bounce him. The ball did not quite rise but Waugh had ducked in defence. It hit him flush on the elbow.
First bat
My very first bat was a Kashmir willow, which I bought at Nadkarni Sports, a store near Metro theatre in Mumbai, for Rs 190. My first English willow was the Sunny Tonny, a popular brand from when I was growing up. It was chosen by Ramakant Achrekar, my first coach. It cost me Rs 600, which was a lot of money.
Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Nagraj Gollapudi
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
| ||||||
| Comments have now been closed for this article |
||||||
TopE-mail
Feedback
Print
Nagraj Gollapudi
'You can't taint the whole IPL'
Bowl at Boycs: Geoff Boycott on spot-fixing, Adil Rashid's future, and yorkers in Test matches
Harsha Bhogle: The spot-fixing controversy teaches us about the pitfalls of insecurity and of the desire to keep up with the Joneses
The new Harmison? Or is it the new Caddick?
Numbers Game: Stuart Broad is destructive at his best, but at other times his bowling average is unusually high
Aakash Chopra: Apart from luck, you need to pick your team wisely, get to bat at the top, and have your captain's support
Less cricket on TV? Hallelujah
Matt Cleary: Why Channel Nine should be applauded for not broadcasting domestic cricket in Australia
Even at the height of his success with the national side, Sreesanth was a lonely cricketer who felt hard done by
A talent that didn't know its own worth
Sreesanth wasn't the most likeable team-mate or opponent, but he had skill beyond doubt, which we might have seen the last of
Mumbai Indians still have a better head-to-head record against Chennai Super Kings, but once again on the big occasion, they came second
A time for anger, a time for action
Out of the shattered lives of three young men caught up in allegations of fraud, newer and stronger players must emerge
Vijay slips, Ashwin does a Sahara
Plays of the day from the IPL qualifier between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in Delhi
Spirited Sunrisers exceed expectations (84)
Sunrisers began this tournament as one of the underdogs, but fought impressively to reach as far as the Eliminator
Even at the height of his success with the national side, Sreesanth was a lonely cricketer who felt hard done by
Mumbai Indians still have a better head-to-head record against Chennai Super Kings, but once again on the big occasion, they came second
Anderson's magic not to be missed (50)
None of the other three England bowlers with 300 Test wickets - or many other of the game's finest swing merchants - could have bowled better than James Anderson at Lord's
A case of peaking too early (42)
Royal Challengers began the season in full steam, but failed to replicate their consistency away from home
Sponsored Links
ICICI Bank M2I. Register Now and Get A Gift Offer.
Safe & simple online money transfer. Apply Now!
Buy Wisden 2013 & get a FREE Playfair
Available now at Cricshop
He was very very impressive in his first few matches, yes he was a terrific fielder in the deep, catches just stick to his hands with grace and a pretty useful batsman, he even got a test hundred at Lords if i remember correctly. From a match winner, he became a match loser towards the end of his career. Sad to see that change.
Bring Agarkar back...He's still one of the best fast bowler for India in shorter format. He has done a lot for Indian cricket but Indian board has done nothing for him..At least give him a farewell match...
The most adorable and yet at times deplorable player - Had a hearty laugh thanks to him at Lords ! Ajit Agarkar episode is a part of the most told stories in the Lords tour. At the Lords, the most conspicously absent name on the honor role is Sachin Tendulkar, while Agarkars name twinkles at you slyly - he arrived at the Lords with a nick name - Bombay Duck - and out walked he to bat and came to the dressing room Not Out, since he ran out of partners, but only after he samshed an unbeaten century at Lords ! And what happens after that ? Next match onwards, he goes back to scoring (or not scoring) Ducks !
His current form is still good, perhaps bring him back into the Test Side.
Posted by Arun14 on (January 28, 2013, 17:56 GMT)Stick to the Aussies how? By scoring 5 consecutive ducks against them? If I didn't see Agarkar's picture, I'd have thought you were talking about VVS Laxman !!
Posted by mdiggity on (January 28, 2013, 13:56 GMT)It's definitely Mark Waugh. Mark was sponsored by Slazenger and Steve was sponsored by GM and MRF and that is clearly a V800, which was my very first bat!
Posted by pandez on (January 28, 2013, 11:18 GMT)cricket_lover1969 can u say how can a individual in a team sport be responsible for loosing.. and since you have mentioned in your comment "he even got a test hundred at Lords if i remember correctly" you don't know anything about him and his achievements, so better clear yourself by checking the stats. You are fully intitled to critisize if you follow a certain cricketer and if you don't follow you can't .......
Posted by Spivi on (January 28, 2013, 7:54 GMT)The article's title is somewhat misleading - smashing lillees record......etc - makes him seem him like some menace whose reign of terror was boundless. Yes he took a great deal of One day wickets but he hardly obliterated Lillee's record and as to him smashing Waugh's elbow - this was hardly representative of anything. please lets remember in the most important form of the game his record was not great.
Posted by crafty-Rabbi on (January 28, 2013, 6:54 GMT)MJcoxx, I think you are right the photo above definitely looks more like Mark than his identical twin brother Steve.
Posted by nareshgb1 on (January 27, 2013, 19:10 GMT)Thanks for getting Ajit's piece here. much maligned cricketer - but if you check the numbers, he's proibably better than a few others who dont get half the flak he does. Always a good batsman to watch too and very neat in the field.