Sulakshana Naik, Ashok Malhotra, and Jatin Paranjpe of the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) interviewed applicants for the position of selector in the men’s selection committee. After this all the members of the three-member committee appointed Ajit Agarkar as the next chief selector of Team India.
Team India’s former fast bowler Ajit Agarkar has become the new Chief Selector of Team India. This was declared on Tuesday by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Under his leadership, the team will first be selected for the five T20 matches against the West Indies starting on 3 August.
Ajit Agarkar has some special records
Significantly, former India all-rounder Ajit Agarkar has played 110 First Class, 270 List A and 62 T20 matches. Apart from this, he represented the country in 26 Tests, 191 ODIs and four T20Is. Along with this, he was a part of India’s victorious team in the first edition of the T20 World Cup played in South Africa in 2007.
Ajit Agarkar’s International career And Records
Team India’s new chief selector Ajit Agarkar has played 191 ODIs for the Indian team. He has 288 wickets at an average rate of 27.85. During this, he has also taken 5 wicket haul twice. He has also contributed very well with his batting. Ajit Agarkar has scored 1299 runs in 191 ODIs at an average of 14.59. In he has also scored half-century 3 times.
Ajit Agarkar has played 26 Test matches for the Indian team, in which he has scored 571 runs and 58 wickets. He has also scored a century in a Test match, which was done in the year 2002 at Lord’s Ground. However, Ajit Agarkar has played only 4 International T20 matches. In this, he has taken 3 wickets.
When India won the T20 World Cup in 2007 under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ajit Agarkar was also a part of that team.
Record of fastest half-century in ODIs as an Indian player
Even though there are many players who have scored half-centuries in 13 or 14 balls in T20 as well. But Ajit Agarkar has scored the fastest half-century as an Indian player in ODI cricket even before the arrival of T20. In the year 2000, in a match against Zimbabwe, Ajit Agarkar completed his half-century in just 21 balls. In that match, he played an unbeaten inning of 67 runs in 25 balls.
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Dennis Lillee’s record of the fastest 50 wickets broken in ODIs
In the ODI format, Australian player Dennis Lillee made the world record of taking 50 wickets in 24 ODIs in 1980, which was broken by Ajit Agarkar after 18 years in 1998. Ajit Agarkar had completed 50 wickets in only 23 ODIs. This record was also later broken by Sri Lankan player Ajantha Mendis in 2009. Mendis completed 50 wickets in just 19 ODIs, which is a record till now.
Had a key role in the Test match victory in Adelaide in 2003
In the year 2003, the Indian team won a historic victory against Australia by 4 wickets at the Adelaide ground. In this match, Ajit Agarkar grabbed 6 wickets while conceding 41 runs in the Kangaroo team’s second innings. Due to this, they were reduced to a score of only 196 and later the Indian team won this match. Apart from this, Ajit Agarkar has 288 wickets in ODIs. In this format, he is India’s third-most wicket-taker.
Apart from this, talking about some of his records, the record of the fastest half-century by an Indian batsman in ODIs is still in the name of Ajit Agarkar. He made this record in 2000 by scoring a half-century in 21 balls against Zimbabwe. He also held the record for the fastest 50 ODI wickets for almost a decade. He took 50 wickets in just 23 ODIs.
Earlier, Agarkar was a part of the Delhi Capitals team in the IPL
Let us tell you that, Agarkar has been the chairman of Mumbai’s selection committee in domestic cricket from 2017 to 2019. Apart from this, he has been a part of the coaching staff of Delhi Capitals in IPL, but on Thursday, Delhi Capitals announced on their Twitter account that Agarkar and Shane Watson will no longer be a part of their coaching staff.
Chetan Sharma was formerly the Chief Selector, however, at the start of the year, a video of his sting operation surfaced. Following this, he was forced to resign as Team India’s Chief Selector. Shivsundar Das has been serving as the acting chief selector since then. Three other members are also involved with him.
