Hyderabad: There are very less chances that a pacer known for generating seam movement does something incredible with the bat and that too when he is one of the tail-enders. However, when he does play a crucial knock with the bat, it becomes one of the significant contributions. Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar did the same 24 years ago in a fixture against Zimbabwe.
Agarkar has 58 Test wickets and 288 ODI wickets to his name which shows his decent bowling skills. However, on that day, Agarkar displayed his batting prowess by hitting one of the three ODI half-centuries in his career.
Agarkar’s 21-ball fifty
Agarkar still holds the record of smashing the fastest ODI fifty from an Indian batter. He completed his half-century in just 21 deliveries against the Zimbabwean cricket side in 2001. His inning was laced with four sixes and seven boundaries. He batted at No.8 for the Indian team and played a knock of unbeaten 67 runs. His record of smashing the fastest ODI fifty as an Indian batter stands intact to date.
India won the ODI series by 4-1
India dominated the five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe back in 2000. They won the series by 4-1 and the ‘Agarkar special’ was delivered in the final ODI of the series. India batted first and the trio of Hemang Badani, Reetinder Sodhi and Ajit Agarkar scored half-centuries. Brian Murphy was the leading wicket-taker for the Zimbabwe team with three dismissals to his name.
In response, opener Trevor Madondo played a knock of 71 runs for Zimbabwe while other batters kept losing their wickets. Agarkar played a crucial role with the ball as well taking three wickets while conceding 26 runs. Reetinder Sodhi, Sridharan Sriram and Virender Sehwag picked two wickets each.
Agarkar, who is the present Chairman of Selectors, is often known for his bowling contributions but in the fixture, he dished out an all-rounder performance.
