Agarkar's brilliant spell in semis largely went unnoticed with Zaheer and Co stealing the limelight in Mumbai's quest for 38th Ranji title
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Getting into the groove: Ajit Agarkar |
Agarkar's brilliant spell in semis largely went unnoticed with Zaheer and Co stealing the limelight in Mumbai's quest for 38th Ranji titleWhile Zaheer Khan stole the limelight during Mumbai's Ranji Trophy victory over Saurashtra in Chennai earlier this week, Ramesh Powar and Dhawal Kulkarni walked away with the chunk of wickets.
Amidst all this, however, Ajit Agarkar's brilliant spell went unnoticed. His figures in the semis may have read 23-9-62-1, but given the pace and consistency with which he bowled, especially on the third day, Agarkar should have had his second successive fifer at the Chepauk.
The 31-year-old hasn't had a memorable season with the ball though. He was expectedly rusty in Mumbai's first game, against Rajasthan, after having come into the game with lack of match practice due to a hernia surgery before the season.
And then when he looked like getting into rhythm, he broke down with a viral infection twice during the season. No wonder then, he has 14 wickets to his name from six matches.
"It has been a kind of stop-start season. I started low on confidence having come in after a long layoff,"
Agarkar, who reached Hyderabad for the all-important final, to be played against Uttar Pradesh from Monday, along with Zaheer and Sachin Tendulkar on Saturday, told Sunday MiD DAY.
Inconsistent run"And then I broke down twice when I was feeling really good. I didn't really get a consistent run as I would have liked. But I felt very good about my bowling in the last two matches."
Seasoned players like Agarkar are expected to come good in the crunch situations. And Agarkar has done exactly that.
He picked his only fifer of the season in the second innings of Mumbai's quarter-final against Himachal Pradesh and then looked the bowler who could get a wicket every time the cherry was thrown to him against Saurashtra in Chennai.
"The second innings against Himachal turned out to be excellent. I was bowling well within myself," Agarkar said.
"And in Chennai also, I continued in the same vein. Let's hope it's carried in Hyderabad."
In Chennai, Agarkar, surprisingly, consistently crossed the mark of 140 kmph, which is a rare
phenomenon in Indian cricket.
"All I can hope for is that people who should take notice of it will do it," Agarkar, who last donned India colours during the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September 2007, said.
