Ajit Agarkar-Ramakant Achrekar:
This Mumbai cricketer made debut at a time when Indian bowling department didn’t have much of pace or swing, Ajit Agarkar had both and he got success in international cricket. When Agarkar retired, he was India’s third highest wicket-taker and was a handy lower-order batsman as well. He was one of the brightest students of Ramakant Achrekar. The master himself described Agarkar a “brilliant prospect”. Yes, the phrase was right for Agarkar.
Agarkar bowled with pace and swing. He also learnt to reverse, which was his lethal weapon with the old ball. With excellent numbers in the domestic competitions, Agarkar was picked for the ODI team in 1998. A plethora of wickets followed , and he became the then fastest to pick 50 ODI wickets. His finest moment came in Adelaide in 2003, where he took 6 for 41 to lead India to a Test victory in Australia. Agarkar also recorded an ODI best of 6 for 42 against Australia at the MCG, though India went on to lose the match
Agarkar’s 21 balls 50 against Zimbabwe and 95 coming at No. 3 hailed him as next Kapil Dev. Agarkar with the infusion of young cricketers in the team was overlooked. But in domestic cricketers, he really played with vigour. He retired in 2013.