Time is running out for Agarkar

By Vijay Lokapally

HARARE, JUNE 20. The media is gunning for him and the team management is having a tough time defending the inclusion of Ajit Agarkar.

``He has the potential,'' believes coach John Wright. And rightly so. There is no doubt the Mumbai seamer has the potential but sadly he has not lived up to make full use of it.

The reasons are many. To begin with, the expectations from Agarkar have been high. Often he is expected to perform beyond his potential and his failures are brushed aside as a learning process.

Learning process for Agarkar. But not for T. Kumaran, Dodda Ganesh, Robin Singh (jr), David Johnson... and many more. When they fail to deliver, the selectors lose no time in showing them the door but in the case of Agarkar, it has been widely believed that he continues to be the blue-eyed boy of the team management which demands he be picked, his failures notwithstanding.

Twenty-four wickets in 10 Tests at an average of 36.87 is not an impressive progress chart. Agarkar made a huge impact with his seam bowling in limited-overs cricket but has bowled nothing above average in Test matches.

As a batsman too, he has been a let down. Once again he seems to have wasted his batting talents and still appears to be under a spell which began with those series of ducks in Australia last year. In 16 Test innings, Agarkar has collected eight ducks. It would be unfair to describe him as an all-rounder after such a dismal record.

Sachin Tendulkar asserts Agarkar has the ability to hit back and one would tend to support the former Indian captain's view. Agarkar has reportedly added a couple of yards to his pace and that should be good news for those who have placed faith in the Mumbai seamer assuming the role of a strike bowler.

In the absence of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, it becomes imperative for Agarkar to take over the responsibility. With left-arm seamers Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan making rapid strides as wicket-taking bowlers, it would be only fair to expect Agarkar to perform on similar lines.

Never been the same bowler

Agarkar has not been the same bowler from the time he disappointed coach Aunshuman Gaekwad in the 1999 World Cup. It was a competition which attracted criticism for Agarkar even though the failure was collective.

Is he an over-rated cricketer or is he going through a lean patch? One would be inclined to accept the arguement that Agarkar is making every effort to silence his critics but he has hardly been convincing on the tour thus far. A calf injury kept him out of the first Test, and his inclusion in place of Zaheer Khan for the next Test, met with poor results.

Agarkar did produce a decent spell in the first innings of the second Test but his captain showed a distinct lack of faith in the bowler on the fourth day when Zimbabwe pursued a modest target of 157. Agarkar presented a sorry sight and it should not be surprising if he happens to lose his confidence. That is the reason why the young man needs to be backed at this difficult stage of his career.

The forthcoming triangular series here provides the much- criticised Agarkar an opportunity to shut out all talk of he being out of place in this team. If he has the potential, it is time he demonstrated it and showed signs of taking over the reins from Srinath and Prasad, the latter still good enough to be considered for limited-overs cricket, if not Test matches, on the basis of rotation to keep the bowlers fresh in times of such hectic scheduling.

The Indian team badly needs a resurgent Agarkar. It will be in the interest of the team if the Mumbai seamer regains his confidence and performs to his potential. Knowing his desire to improve and contribute, one can expect Agarkar to assume the role of a matchwinner. If he does not, it will be a blow to a team which is striving to earn laurels with performance overseas.

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