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How do you guys rate Ajit Agarkar?

Major

Major

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There has always been a tag with India that they have the poorest Fast bowlers, but even yet they had this bowler Ajit Agarkar, who took 288 wickets in one day format in 191 one day matches, with an avg of 27.

Wahab Riaz at the same time has a one day avg of 33.
 
He was the quickest to reach 50 wickets in ODIs in that era. He was a wicket taking bowler. I see some similarity in Hasan Ali also. They both go for runs but take wickets.
 
Wicket taking bowler. Had a lot of potential but unfortunately not the smartest.
 
Started out wonderfully. Could swing the ball and took wickets consistently but also tended to be expensive (by the ODI standards of those days). But like so many other Indian bowlers just couldn't sustain the same level of performance or improve enough to be a threat at the test level. Had a decent batting technique (5 ducks notwithstanding :)).
 
Used to concede lots of runs but was a wicket-taking bowler.

A good odi bowler at best. That's it.
 
Left a lot to be desired,should had worked harder had capability to be perfect all rounder.

His contribution for Aussie series will always be remembered.
 
A very good player and a very good bowler. He was one of the best exponents of yorkers. Unfortunately, did not reach his full potentials.
He was pretty quick too and even till the fag end of his career, he would still bowl sharp, around 140'ish. Back in the days, he was around 142ish and could crank it upto 147k's.

As a ODI bowler, he was right up there.
 
He was similar to Mohammad Sami in a lot of ways, quick, whippy action who would either leak runs or take wickets. He was always a handful at the old Sahara Cup and Sharjah but I do remember Ijaz getting a hold of him once and really taking him to the cleaners.
 
Asif khan said:
He was similar to Mohammad Sami in a lot of ways, quick, whippy action who would either leak runs or take wickets. He was always a handful at the old Sahara Cup and Sharjah but I do remember Ijaz getting a hold of him once and really taking him to the cleaners.
Click to expand...

Thats a good observation. Only thing was, Sami was quicker than Agarkar, as far as the top speed was concerned. Sami could reach 150's, while Agarkar would be around 145ish. However, Agarkar was the better , rather much better wicket taker between them
 
One of the best exponents of Yorker that India has ever produced.

Agarkar was pretty decent. Pretty sharp and skiddy. The problem is he had so many bad days where he sprays the ball all around.
On good days, he can have some match winning spells.

I rank him below Zaheer Khan who is the best bowler that India produced in the past 2 decades.

Srinath was the best pacer India ever produced, followed by Kapil (was average after the 1st 5 years of his career).
 
Similar to Rana Naved ul Hassan. Got wickets, but went for plenty of runs. Maybe Pakistanis don't rate him because when he played, we used to win most games. He was a decent ODI cricketer for India IMO.
 
Would you guys prefer wahab or agarkar?

And what position was agarkar used? New ball, death?
 
Was a known choker towards the end of the inning and in crunch situations. Otherwise a very good new ball bowler who could deliver peaches like these every now and then and make the best of batsmen look foolish :-

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UkDdvN0uuIw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Agarkar was the sort of bowler Pakistanis used to laugh at and make fun of Indians for having. Now he may make it into our team.
 
Never considered him to be a good bowler. Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan, during his early days were far better bowlers than him and they themselves weren't particularly great either. As most of the people on this thread have already said, he had a knack for picking wickets but he was usually quite expensive and didn't have any particular pace or swing to trouble the batsmen.

The Indian fast-bowling attack these days is far, far superior to the attack they've had for the most part of the last 25 years.
 
I remember during the Carlton Unites Series in 2000 Ganguly stated that Agarkar was an all-rounder in the mold of Razzaq. LOL.
 
he was a superb bowler.....
and man he had a great mind because he didn't play too much in his thirties .... he would hav been smoked to all parts and would hav harmed his stats badly....
did his job and left quitely...although he was dropped but unlike others he never kept chirping that he will make a strong comeback.
was handy with the bat as well
he was in no way a joke........
 
Joke of a test bowler (despite the Adelaide win) but average in ODIs.

Damning indictment of Indian bowling resources that he got as many caps as he did.
 
At best a mediocre bowler who went for plenty despite taking wickets. Okayish in ODI's though.

A poor man's Wahab except he could not produce the goods in ICC tournaments.

His final test for India summed up his entire career - 1st Test vs. Pakistan 2006 when YK and MoYo tore him to shreds.
 
Quick,zippy an excellent fielder but brainless.Still ended up taking 288 wickets in pretty good time.Underrated player,could have achieved more
 
Haven't heard much about him and don't remember any of his performances so don't really rate him. Those are some very good numbers however so he must be quite underrated.
 
Sin Nombre said:
Joke of a test bowler (despite the Adelaide win) but average in ODIs.

Damning indictment of Indian bowling resources that he got as many caps as he did.
Click to expand...

He has an average of 27 so he deserves all the caps he got.
 
Very underrated in ODIs and pathetic in tests. Somewhat of a poor man's Muhammad Sami.
 
Much better than Rao Iftikhar, Rana Naved, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Sami of the same era from Pakistan..

equal to Umar Gul the ODI bowler
 
Major said:
Would you guys prefer wahab or agarkar?

And what position was agarkar used? New ball, death?
Click to expand...

Wahab is quicker than Agarkar. I dont think one would choose Agarkar over Wahab in tests, but in ODI's, I would choose Agarkar anyday. Agarkar was excellent with his yorkers. When I say excellent, I mean almost in the moulds of Waqar. And he was a good batsman. He has a century at lords, btw
 
Absolute trundler and a role model for all Indian upcoming fast bowlers. I used to love him when he bowled against us because I knew he didn't pose any threat whatsoever.
 
In ODIs, Agarkar was a skinnier and slower version of Akhtar. Almost similar SR, comparable economy rate and not so bad average.
 
msb314 said:
At best a mediocre bowler who went for plenty despite taking wickets. Okayish in ODI's though.

A poor man's Wahab except he could not produce the goods in ICC tournaments.

His final test for India summed up his entire career - 1st Test vs. Pakistan 2006 when YK and MoYo tore him to shreds.
Click to expand...

India were 400/0 in the same test.
 
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captain crook said:
Absolute trundler and a role model for all Indian upcoming fast bowlers. I used to love him when he bowled against us because I knew he didn't pose any threat whatsoever.
Click to expand...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJDIjpQ4-7k

Ridiculing someone just because he is an Indian is acceptable on this forum. Agarkar was everything but a trundler. I dont recall his matches against Pakistan, he might have fared badly, but I doubt that. The video will show the kind of yorkers he could bowl.
 
msb314 said:
At best a mediocre bowler who went for plenty despite taking wickets. Okayish in ODI's though.

A poor man's Wahab except he could not produce the goods in ICC tournaments.

His final test for India summed up his entire career - 1st Test vs. Pakistan 2006 when YK and MoYo tore him to shreds.
Click to expand...

In the same test, the total no of wickets Pakistani bowlers took was " 1 " That was Kaneria who took the wicket. Agarkar, on that dead wicket had claimed 2 wickets.

This is the standard of comparison we get from posters on this forum?
 
After seeing Pacers like Ganguly, Mohanty, Kuruvilla, Prasad, Doda Ganesh etc it was refreshing to see Agarkar back in the day swinging the ball at 140+ kmph and taking wickets regularly.. He was a pure wicket taking bowler and started out with a bang eventually he fizzled out and we got better option in Zak and for couple years Pathan .. I don't know what happened to him but if he was worked on by the management he could have formed a memorable partnership with Zak for 5-7 years..
 
captain crook said:
Absolute trundler and a role model for all Indian upcoming fast bowlers. I used to love him when he bowled against us because I knew he didn't pose any threat whatsoever.
Click to expand...


Agarkar was not a trundler he was a slightly better version of Sami in ODI's with slightly less pace..
 
Major said:
Would you guys prefer wahab or agarkar?

And what position was agarkar used? New ball, death?
Click to expand...

Agarkar could swing the ball at 140+ and was a wicket taking bowler from little I have watched Wahab he seems to be just about pace.. I would take Agarkar over him any day, both are mediocre but still Agarkar is less mediocre than Wahan..
 
Good ODI bowler but very bad at tests. Although when he started and broke the records for fastest 50 wickets and that too when he played majority of matches in Asia, it looked like he is set for big things but he never took the next step. Still 288 wickets in ODI for an indian bowler at an avg of 27.85 is a good return for indian bowler
 
Rightarmfast said:
In the same test, the total no of wickets Pakistani bowlers took was " 1 " That was Kaneria who took the wicket. Agarkar, on that dead wicket had claimed 2 wickets.

This is the standard of comparison we get from posters on this forum?
Click to expand...

Actually no - it was Rana Naved who claimed the wicket of Sehwag - got behind after he made 254.

That was an abberation of a test since it was a flat as a pancake wicket but the point about Agarkar still stands - he produced my docile performances like he did in that Lahore Test.
 
freelance_cricketer said:
India were 400/0 in the same test.
Click to expand...

Read my post again.

Agarkar was toothless in that Test like many others but that was the norm for him whereas for Kumble, Harbhajan it was more of an aberration.

There is a reason why he never played a Test match again after that.
 
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msb314 said:
Actually no - it was Rana Naved who claimed the wicket of Sehwag - got behind after he made 254.

That was an abberation of a test since it was a flat as a pancake wicket but the point about Agarkar still stands - he produced my docile performances like he did in that Lahore Test.
Click to expand...

Renu katta
 
Rightarmfast said:
In the same test, the total no of wickets Pakistani bowlers took was " 1 " That was Kaneria who took the wicket. Agarkar, on that dead wicket had claimed 2 wickets.

This is the standard of comparison we get from posters on this forum?
Click to expand...

One of those wickets was that of a tailender and the other was Afridi who was swinging madly as Pakistan were trying to declare.

Out of all the indian bowlers - he had the highest ER in that innings...
 
msb314 said:
One of those wickets was that of a tailender and the other was Afridi who was swinging madly as Pakistan were trying to declare.

Out of all the indian bowlers - he had the highest ER in that innings...
Click to expand...

You are quite funny. You never give up even when your point has been tarnished and you have been proven wrong.

Btw, Ajit Agarkar's economy in the match was 5.08 with 2 wickets,check the pakistani bowlers economy and no of wickets for the same match. Do check sami's, naved's and kaneria's average. I am not even counting shoib malik coz he was not a pure bowler


Bowling O M R W Econ 0s 4s 6s
Shoaib Akhtar 16.2 6 46 0 2.81 78 7 0 (4nb, 1w)
Naved-ul-Hasan 16 1 94 1 5.87 65 19 0 (1nb, 1w)
Shahid Afridi 11 0 55 0 5.00 43 10 0 (1nb)
Mohammad Sami 12 1 67 0 5.58 44 9 0 (4nb)
Danish Kaneria 10 0 69 0 6.90 35 8 1 (6nb)
Shoaib Malik 12 1 70 0 5.83 40 10 0 (1nb)
 
Rightarmfast said:
You are quite funny. You never give up even when your point has been tarnished and you have been proven wrong.

Btw, Ajit Agarkar's economy in the match was 5.08 with 2 wickets,check the pakistani bowlers economy and no of wickets for the same match. Do check sami's, naved's and kaneria's average. I am not even counting shoib malik coz he was not a pure bowler


Bowling O M R W Econ 0s 4s 6s
Shoaib Akhtar 16.2 6 46 0 2.81 78 7 0 (4nb, 1w)
Naved-ul-Hasan 16 1 94 1 5.87 65 19 0 (1nb, 1w)
Shahid Afridi 11 0 55 0 5.00 43 10 0 (1nb)
Mohammad Sami 12 1 67 0 5.58 44 9 0 (4nb)
Danish Kaneria 10 0 69 0 6.90 35 8 1 (6nb)
Shoaib Malik 12 1 70 0 5.83 40 10 0 (1nb)
Click to expand...

Read my post again - I specifically referred to the Indian bowlers.

Agarkat was always expensive not just in that game but throughout his career - management rightfully moved on with younger bowlers at the time like RP Singh, Sreesanth etc. Even Zaheer Khan was then preferred over Agarkat.
 
msb314 said:
Read my post again - I specifically referred to the Indian bowlers.

Agarkat was always expensive not just in that game but throughout his career - management rightfully moved on with younger bowlers at the time like RP Singh, Sreesanth etc. Even Zaheer Khan was then preferred over Agarkat.
Click to expand...

So you are trying to say that all the Pakistani bowlers were super trashy and crap. So why compare agarkar to these crappy bowlers. He was only 2nd to the great indian fast bowlers.
Hmm.. Yeah, I can agree with that.
 
troodon said:
One of the best exponents of Yorker that India has ever produced.

Agarkar was pretty decent. Pretty sharp and skiddy. The problem is he had so many bad days where he sprays the ball all around.
On good days, he can have some match winning spells.

I rank him below Zaheer Khan who is the best bowler that India produced in the past 2 decades.

Srinath was the best pacer India ever produced, followed by Kapil (was average after the 1st 5 years of his career).
Click to expand...

I have recently become a big fan of Srinath, watching some old videos. Guy was quick, and developed into a very good bowler in the second half of his career.

Nice easy run up, great action, and some pace. Very underrated, and probably unfairly labelled as yet another Indian trundler by many Pakistanis, admittedly myself included in the past.
 
He is very underratted . He has pretty good record in OD games. 288 wickets in 191 matches is not a bad effort
 
Third_Umpire said:
I have recently become a big fan of Srinath, watching some old videos. Guy was quick, and developed into a very good bowler in the second half of his career.

Nice easy run up, great action, and some pace. Very underrated, and probably unfairly labelled as yet another Indian trundler by many Pakistanis, admittedly myself included in the past.
Click to expand...

I have a feeling Zaheer is best Indian fast bowler ever , whether with new or old ball.
 
Justcrazy said:
I have a feeling Zaheer is best Indian fast bowler ever , whether with new or old ball.
Click to expand...

I saw a lot of both, and tbh never figured out what the big deal with Zaheer was. He was pretty good, consistent, but IMO Irfan and Agarkar both had brief phases where they were miles better.

Srinath IMO is a class above them all. Too bad he had ZERO support on the end...
 
Third_Umpire said:
I saw a lot of both, and tbh never figured out what the big deal with Zaheer was. He was pretty good, consistent, but IMO Irfan and Agarkar both had brief phases where they were miles better.

Srinath IMO is a class above them all. Too bad he had ZERO support on the end...
Click to expand...

Which brief phases were they? From 2006 to 2011, Zaheer was world class.
 
Third_Umpire said:
I have recently become a big fan of Srinath, watching some old videos. Guy was quick, and developed into a very good bowler in the second half of his career.

Nice easy run up, great action, and some pace. Very underrated, and probably unfairly labelled as yet another Indian trundler by many Pakistanis, admittedly myself included in the past.
Click to expand...

Srinath had a little more than just ' some pace '. In 99 WC, when the speed gun was launched for the first time, Srinath was clocked to be the 2nd fastest bowler of the tournament, 2nd only to Shoaib Akhtar. Thus breaking this myth of Indians not being quick. Pre speed gun era, people had this misconception. This was after he had the rotator cuff injury. Around 95-97, he was one of the fastest bowler in the world, clocking 150+ on several occasions.
 
Agarkar was quite a good bowler. Skiddy, quick got good inswing and leg cut on occasion. Unfortunate to play in an era when we simply did not make an effort to nurture quicks and was a little too wayward. Fine ODI bowler nonetheless.
 
In pakistan he would be playing on the bench for a club. If your given that many chances as he got you are likely to get wi kets. Everytime he came to bowl he was the guy you knew was going to get smashed around the park. I rate him as indias fourth best fast bowler after shami zaheer and srisnath
 
He was an ok bowler. For his time he was very expensive so would've got thrashed in current era.
 
Our current bowling is better. He might not have made it to the team ahead of Shami,Yadav, Bhuvi and Bumrah(odis version).
 
Decent player. He had a great match winning performance in Australia which is/has been a dream for most Asian bowlers
 
freelance_cricketer said:
Is that why Mohammad Sami keeps coming back to the team? Maybe the benches are broken or something.
Click to expand...

Sami is better.

Sami could still rack up pace, and a bowler like sami could end up playing for india for many years.

By reading the views of posters here, agarkar soubds like rao iftikhar or hassan ali
 
Military medium pace bowler who bowled a good line and length. Nothing special
 
Major said:
Sami is better.

Sami could still rack up pace, and a bowler like sami could end up playing for india for many years.

By reading the views of posters here, agarkar soubds like rao iftikhar or hassan ali
Click to expand...

Thanks for the laughs.
 
Rightarmfast said:
Srinath had a little more than just ' some pace '. In 99 WC, when the speed gun was launched for the first time, Srinath was clocked to be the 2nd fastest bowler of the tournament, 2nd only to Shoaib Akhtar. Thus breaking this myth of Indians not being quick. Pre speed gun era, people had this misconception. This was after he had the rotator cuff injury. Around 95-97, he was one of the fastest bowler in the world, clocking 150+ on several occasions.
Click to expand...

I beg your pardon !!!!??? :danish
 
ahmedwaqas92 said:
I beg your pardon !!!!??? :danish
Click to expand...

Srinath was clocked at 149.6 kph in the 1999 World Cup at the age of 30 and after a serious shoulder injury. Around 1996-97 he was genuinely quick. Not express but it's certainly not unreasonable to think that he had clocked 150+ a few times during that season.
 
Agarkar is a proof that low average and high wickets do not mean anything in ODIs if you give away so many runs.

For the same reason, I will always prefer a bowler like Ambrose over Waqar in ODIs.
 
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