Tuesday, October 16, 2007

AGARKAR AND RAMESH POWAR- THE PRODIGAL SONS OF INDIAN CRICKET

I was reading the paper today and one particular headline caught my eye,it said Agarkar and Powar destroy Western Railways(not literally,although come to the think of it,Powar could pull it off!!),the tournament was the Times Shield Division A match between Tata Sports Club and Western Railways. Check out these bowling figures Agarkar 8.2-3-23-4Powar 11-4-13-3
When was the last time we saw Agarkar bowl a maiden over??(Apart from Fatima Ghadially) And he actually went on to bowl 3 out of his 8 overs. This was the same Agarkar who got thwarted all over the Oval which forced Dravid to bring on Yuvraj in the last over of that match and the rest as they is history. Now i may not have the credentials to criticise Agarkar and Powar,which mind you i am not doing,rather just trying to figure out this conundrum as to what happens to Agarkar when he comes onto the international stage?? It would be a little early to talk about Powar but from what ever indications we get of his career so far one just hopes he doesn't go the Agarkar way.
This is not restricted just to their bowling.In the same match where they had these astonishing bowling figures,both players came well with the bat also. However when it come to representing the country they seem to be totally different players. Agarkar has shown flashes of brilliance with a century at Lords,but is remembered more for his 007 tour of Australia in 99-00(he got 7 ducks on that tour). Another instance was a ODI in Sharjah against Sri Lanka where we were chasing and Agarkar finished it off well for us. 10 years into international cricket and he still hasn't cemented his place in the Indian side. Makes one wonder whether cricket is played more in the mind? Even Powar for that matter is considered to be a very dangerous batsman for Mumbai but when it comes to the international stage, all he has to show is one half century in 3 years.
Harsha Bhogle keeps talking about this and even he hasn't been able to figure out the cause of this. Agarkar and Powar are two transformed players when they play for Mumbai. Yes the quality of opposition may not be good but as long as one sticks to the basics,it doesn't matter whom you are playing against.
I just hope and pray that Agarkar and Powar,whenever they are given the chance to play for India next, come good with the bat,as that may solve a lot of our problems with regards to the lower order and all-rounders.(literally,Powar already takes care of the latter!!)

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