da dobrowin： Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar did not gift the world a new battingphilosophy with his memorable hundred at Lord’s on Monday
Rajesh Kumar31-Jul-2002Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar did not gift the world a new battingphilosophy with his memorable hundred at Lord’s on Monday. He onlyreiterated the importance of being earnest, a virtue last stated withwitty originality by the peerless Oscar Wilde.
Ajit Agarkar against all bowlers – India 2nd innings at Lord’s
© CricInfoThe 24-year-old talented chose his moment well. Hissupreme cricketing achievement after all came on a day when thereputation of India’s most famous dream factory – Mumbai’s ownBollywood – took another beating after transcripts of tapedconversations revealed fresh evidence of its connections with theunderworld. On the field at Lord’s, meanwhile, India were at thereceiving end of what was threatening to turn into a demoralisingthrashing.But far from showing any signs of agitation in the midst of thisturbulence, an earnest Agarkar, showing unstinting commitment, kepthis head for once and let the strokes flow. After arriving at thebatting crease on the fourth evening, he made a cautious start,scoring only six runs off his first 35 balls. But the return of newboy Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff to the bowling crease foundAgarkar changing gears, one searing cut shot and a series of copybookdrives taking him to within earshot of senior partner VVS Laxman.From then on, these were to be his favourite shots. Taking a distinctliking to the English bowlers and their short-of-a-length deliveries,he scored as many as 38 runs in the region between point and thirdman. Jones was the main culprit as far as England were concerned,conceding as many as 15 of these runs. Drives and pick-up shotsbetween mid-off and mid-wicket for their part yielded 42 runs,speaking eloquently about Agarkar’s willingness to hit the ball -often over the infield – when it was up to be hit.As much as his wagon-wheel speaks about his strokes, it also speaksabout where England erred in their bowling on Monday. On a belter of abatting wicket that actually got flatter as the game progressed,bowling short of a length on the fifth day was simply begging to behit. The bounce was even and true, and Agarkar, with his quick eye,could do no wrong under such circumstances.England erred in line as well. Many of the deliveries bowled toAgarkar were not only short but also outside the off-stump, giving thebatsman room to free his arms and play his strokes. Bowling closer tothe batsman’s body may have seen an intended cut fly to slip or chopthe ball onto the stumps, but it was not to be, and the English attackwas accordingly flayed.The shots were all played with lovely timing and considerable elan -facets of Agarkar’s batting that came to the fore in his famous 21-ball 50 against Zimbabwe at Rajkot in December 2000. But sadly beforeSunday, this was all lost upon a Test arena that only knew him as abatsman with a famous penchant for ducks. His invigorating hundred atstarchy Lord’s was timely penitence for the gross injustice that hehad done to his undoubted batting talents on the big stage until now.