Biography

Ajit Agarkar is an Indian international cricketer who has been on the periphery of the Indian side in both, the Test as well as the One-day format. He was once touted as the next best bowling all-rounder after the legendary Kapil Dev. However, his inconsistency in performance did not grant him that status.

Agarkar has been representing his hometown Mumbai in the domestic circuit since 1997-98. One of his best performances came in the 2009-10 Ranji Trophy finals against Karnataka where his 5-wicket haul ensured a narrow win for Mumbai. He has also played for Middlesex in the English county cricket. He represented the Kolkata Knight Riders for the first three seasons of the IPL from 2008-10. Ahead of the fourth, he was signed by the Delhi Daredevils in 2011.

His ODI debut came in 1998 at Kochi against the mighty Australians, where he took the price wicket of Adam Gilchrist. It took him just 23 matches to reach 50 wickets in ODI. In his 133rd match, he already had 200 ODI wickets and 1,000 runs in his kitty. Despite a high economy rate, his One-day performances have been far better. He was India’s best ODI bowler when the team toured the West Indies in 2006.

He performed well in the Test series Down Under of 1999 as well as 2003. His career best bowling figures of 6/41 came at Adelaide in 2003 which helped India nab their first Test win in Australia in 20 years. Batting at number eight, he scored his maiden Test century and remained unbeaten on 109 at The Lord’s in 2002, against the Englishmen.