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Five Firsts
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Cricketers on their milestones
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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
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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
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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.