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The cricket interview/Ajit Agarkar

"You will see me being very aggressive..."

Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar needs no introduction, really.

The 20 year old (Agarkar was born on December 4, 1977) has been the focus of international attention ever since his debut, on April 1, 1998, against Australia in the Kochi one-dayer.

His last ODI, to date, was against Sri Lanka on July 7 -- and in the space of this brief career spanning just 97 days old, Agarkar has not only become a national icon, but has in the process created a world record.

His four wickets in the final of the Singer Akai Nidahas Trophy, on July 7 (interestingly, they were all top batsmen, with Agarkar taking out Jayasuriya, Kaluwitharana, Aravinda D'Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga in that innings) took his tally, in 15 ODIs, to 36 -- the most recorded by any bowler at that stage. In the process, he overtook Curtley Ambrose and Otis Gibson of the West Indies, both of whom had taken 34 wickets in their first 15 games.

Elsewhere in these pages, we have carried an extensive profile of the young strike bowler, so we'll cut right to the chase, with excerpts of a chat Agarkar had with Faisal Shariff:

From Shivaji Park to the Indian dressing room -- how's the journey been, thus far?

Well, it's been a great experience -- every cricketer dreams of playing for the country and when that dream is actually realized, it feels out of this world.

My cricket life started around the sixth standard, when I was picked by Achrekar to play for Shardashram (the school that also produced the likes of Pravin Amre, Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar). At that time I was seen as a batsman who could bowl a bit, but more of a batsman, a recognised one.

I played for Shivaji Park Club and then moved on to CCI, I play for them even now. In one particular match at the Brabourne Stadium, one of our bowlers was unfit, so I bowled a bit and picked up a couple of important wickets. So then Sachin (Tendulkar) asked me to concentrate on my bowling, and that is how my bowling career actually took off.

The India A stint in Pakistan brought you into the reckoning, didn't it?

Actually, it did wonders for my confidence. It was my first experience at the higher level of international cricket, and when we played Pakistan A, the fact was that eight of those guys had actually played for the national team. So it was almost like playing a full fledged international team.

The wickets over there aren't much different from what they are back home, though conditions are different sometimes. And I was pretty much the only strike bowler, since (Debashish) Mohanty had to return home for the Test series against the Aussies. So the onus was on me to get wickets -- which I did, and from there on I think I was a different bowler altogether, with with much more confidence.

So tell us about the Pakistan experience?

Touring Pakistan is always difficult, always tough, or so I am told. Playing them on their own soil only adds to the pressure. They had a brilliant side, so many of them with experience at the highest level. The only thing was a lot of the games got washed out, so we didn't get to play as much as we would have liked to.

Was there crowd pressure?

Hardly! *laughing* There was hardly any crowd, we played to mostly empty stands.

Given your relative inexperience, how did it feel bowling to the likes of Basit Ali and Salim Elahi?

Well I never really think of the reputation of the batsman facing me, when I am bowling, that kind of thing only ends up putting pressure on you. I just think of how to bowl each ball, how to get the guy out. Actually, I ended up getting both Basit and Salim out the maximum number of times, got the edge of Basit's bat, had Salim LBW a couple of times...

The Lahore match became a talking point here, because you got considerable bounce on a pitch on which even Aqib Javed was finding it difficult to bowl...

Aqib is a great bowler, having proved himself at the highest level, but his action and mine are very different, I use a lot of shoulder in my deliveries and really bend my back, so I guess that is why I could generate bounce off the wicket. Actually its all about landing the ball on the seam, once you do that then the rest follows.

So did you and Aqib get together, exchange notes? I seem to remember reading something about it...

Yeah, that happened after we were trashed in the one-day matches, we lost all three. That's when I went up to Aqib and asked him a few questions, he answered them most willingly. It's a pity that he does not figure in the national team, he's such a fine bowler.

Krish Srikkanth came back from that tour raving about you...

Yeah, Krish was our manager there, and he is the main reason why I find myself in the Indian team, I think. After the Pakistan tour, he made a couple of statements about me, brought me to the selectors' notice. He is very helpful, not at all the dictating type, lets you think for yourself and helps bring out the best in you.

Ajit, you said just now that Indian and Pakistani wickets are pretty similar. So how come, then, that the Pakistanis produce so many quality quicks, and we don't?

First, the Pakis are damn tough, strong, compared to us, it's got to do with their diet and the way they've been brought up. Then, they are a strong, aggressive bunch, lots of strength and stamina, so they can bowl long spells at top pace. Indians, with the exception of maybe Kapil and Manoj, and now Prasad, have never been really well built bowlers. Maybe that's the reason Pakis have such a huge number of fast bowlers, you must see the Pathans there -- man, they're huge!

Your run up used to be 15 yards, now you have extended it to 18. How come?

Well, actually the Bombay team coach, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, asked me to change my run up, to extend it a bit, because earlier I used to just rush in and bowl. Sandhu made me extend the run up so I could have a more relaxed, easy run in, I also get more pace from my run up. I need that because I am not so well built, the longer run up adds rhythm to my delivery stride and increases my pace.

Speaking of build, Sanjay Manjrekar recently remarked on TV that he had asked you to either put on weight, or stop bowling...

*Laughing* Well, Sanjay always makes those kind of statements about me. Actually, I have heeded his advice and have been doing weights since last week, hopefully it will help me build more muscle.

In the Singer final recently in Lanka, you got a vital breakthrough when you took out Arjuna Ranatunga, that too on his bread and butter shot....

Actually, yes he does play that shot a lot, opening the bat face and running it down to third man. Just before I got him, he had tried that shot and missed. So I bowled the next one that fraction faster, he played the same shot, and Nayan (Mongia) anticipated and took a great catch.

Do you guys discuss different batsmen, plan on how to bowl to them, how to get them out?

Well we do have a plan for every batsman, sort out his shots and figure which ones will lead to his downfall. We see tapes of some players also, sometimes.

Talking of which, how did you sort out Jayasuriya? The last time India played there, he was lethal...

You know, he's been struggling for a while to get away from the delivery which is bowled into him and cramps him up for space. He also has a habit of slashing wildly at deliveries outside the off stump. So we decided not to give him room outside off, to cramp him. He also leaves a big gap between his bat and pad when he plays those deliveries. But he is a very good batsman, I reckon he will sort his problem out pretty quickly.

It's been a pretty hectic start to your career, think of it -- you've already had to bowl to batsmen like the Waugh twins, D'Silva, Jayasuriya...

Yeah, I've been lucky that way, got to bowl to some really wonderful batsmen at the start of my career. But somehow, when I am bowling, it does not matter who I am bowling to, I focus on what I am going to bowl and how I can get a wicket.

Your average is 18.27, your strike rate is a sensational 21.5, but your economy rate doesn't quite match those stats...

Well, early wickets are the key to put pressure on the opposition. Because once you get the early wickets, you can dictate terms. And anyway, the new white ball moves around only for the first 7 or 8 overs, so you have only three or four overs to strike, at that point of time I don't bother about getting hit for a few runs... not that I like it too much, being hit, but I am looking for wickets, bowling flat out and aggressively...

Continued