It was straight out of Glenn McGrath’s kitty. Brain Lara had his front foot out, bat swishing down in a lethal arc, when the ball cut in, rapped him on the pads. The appeal was turned down, but Round One went to Ajit Agarkar. For the Mumbaikar, it was another page in the strange story his career-book has become — hero in one match, out of the frame in the next. Yet, no Indian captain is willing to let him go. Why? They say such focus is hard to find, that he is a match-winner and for every four balls that lack heat, two come along that can stun any batsman. Today in his first over, the 28-year-old first sent back last match’s star Chris Gayle for a duck, then tied the great Brian Lara down to two straight maidens, setting up the left-hander for Irfan Pathan. The first of those maidens was master class. The opening delivery swerved away from off, the third too, the fourth cut in sharply, hurrying Lara to defend, the fifth beat the bat outside off and the last was straight, one that had no other answer but an equally straight bat. The second ball of the over, of course, would have had even McGrath smiling. In the next over he got Lara to drive, only for Suresh Raina to spill a sharp chance at second slip. But by then, Agarkar had got into the space between Lara’s ears, letting Pathan go for the kill — this time Raina was ready. It was 24 for three in the second ODI, and West Indies were facing the business end of the gun. So where does this leave Agarkar, 10 years and 247 wickets after his ODI debut against Australia at Kochi? He’s the only pacer in this team to have toured the West Indies before (2002), and coach Greg Chappell, who completed his first year in office, has already marked him down for the World Cup. He was the fastest to a one-day fifty, has a Test century at Lord’s turned the match for India with six wickets on the fourth day of that famous Adelaide win of 2003. In between there were those seven straight ducks in Australia. And injuries — particularly to the shin that takes the weight of that skiddish action. Agarkar is now more of a mentor in the team, but Dravid and Chappell would surely be hoping that he would stay a match-winner. -ajay.sshankar@expressindia.com
