selection of agarkar

BangladeshFan · #1 December 21, 2005, 05:35 AM

isnt it confusing agarkar continues to be selected for test matches? the guy is about 30, was never a good test match bowler, though can be used in ODIs. with series against pakistan and england coming up, what is the reason to continue to select him when khan, nehra, balaji etc are not selcted.

ganguli was dropped with selectors citing preference for youth. incase of agarkar, it seems like opposite is true. he must have some influential "mamas" in the comittee.

insideedge · #2 December 21, 2005, 12:01 PM

Khan, Nehra and Balaji have fitness problems. Khan and Nehra also suffer from attitude problem. These two seek to play in ODIs and try to shirk playing in tests. Such picking and choosing was tolerated in the past because of the perceived myth that players like Khan and Nehra, not to speak of Ganguly, were indispensable.

Now all these people areout and Indian performance has been much better in their absence. Agarkar, on the other hand has shown marked improvement in his performance. He no longer bowls loose deliveries that was his wont in the past. His ODI prowess was never in doubt. Greg Chappel has great faith in his abilities. Chappel said in an interview that he is looking at his present performance as well as the promise he is showing for the future, He is not interested in what he did in the past. In the present series against Sri Lanka, he claimed 3 wickets as against 6 by Pathan. Majority of wickets were claimed by the spinners as expected. On pace friendly pitches he can take more wickets. He has all the skills that a pacer needs- ability to move the ball both ways with the new ball and ability to reverse swing with the old ball.

He was the bowling hero for India when India beat Australia in Adelaide with his 6-42. In addition he is a handy batsman with a test century at Lords and a 21 ball half century in ODIs. The other three bowlers- Khan, Pathan and Balaji are not necessarily better than him.

insideedge · #3 December 21, 2005, 12:02 PM

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Edited on, December 21, 2005, 5:13 PM GMT, by insideedge.
Reason: duplicate

insideedge · #4 December 21, 2005, 12:03 PM

Edited on, December 21, 2005, 5:14 PM GMT, by insideedge.
Reason: duplicate

sadi · #5 December 21, 2005, 12:19 PM

he just scored a 48...he was always handy with the bat and he showed it again in this test match..... i have to agree with you... his bowling improved a lot and he is a better option than balaji or khan... both are quite inconsistent.... nehra is a better choice than him though i think but nehra is suffering from injuries... so right now agarkar is the best india got after pathan..