• Source:JND
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Ajit Agarkar Birthday: Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of the BCCI's men's selection committee, is celebrating his 48th birthday on Thursday, December 4. Agarkar was a promising fast bowler, who represented India in 221 international matches before unfolding new chapters of his continuous association with the game.

Agarkar, a fast-bowling star in Mumbai’s cricket circuit, had a career spanning almost a decade at the international stage. Having made his debut at the highest level for India way back in October 1998, Agarkar played 26 Tests, 191 ODIs and 4 T20Is for the nantional team. Having impressed with a few memorable performances in Tests and ODIs, Agarkar witnessed the biggest high of his career in 2007 when India lifted the inaugural T20 World Cup title.

Agarkar's best came in the ODI cricket and he ended up being the third leading wicket-taker for India in that format. He took 288 wickets, only behind Anil Kumble (334) and Javagal Srinath (315) at an average of 27.85.

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Agarkar also represented Mumbai with impressive consistency at the domestic level and featured for Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League.


Ajit Agarkar Notable Career Achievements

The 2003 Adelaide Test match saw a remarkable effort from Agarkar. While the match is famous for Rahul Dravid’s epic knocks of 233 & 72 not out, Agarkar stepped up with the match-winning effort of 6 for 41 in the third innings.

Agarkar stunned everyone with his fighting century at Lord’s during the 2002 Test match against England. His impressive knock of 109 gave India an outside chance to secure a draw before the visitors collapsed and lost the match by 170 runs.

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He also holds the record for being the fastest to complete 50 ODI wickets for India, reaching the feat in just 23 matches. In December 2000, Agarkar became the player with the fastest fifty in the ODI format for India, reaching the milestone in just 21 deliveries against Zimbabwe.


Ajit Agarkar Birthday: A Look At Big Controversies Involving Him As India's Chief Selector

Agarkar's tenure as India's chief selector has led to a major debate and heavy criticism so far as the team continues to go through the challenging transition phase. It was with Agarkar as selector and coach Gautam Gambhir at the helm that India suffered 0-3 whitewash series defeat at home against New Zealand last year, before going down 0-2 against South Africa.

The Agarkar-led selection committee faced huge backlash after India's 1-3 defeat against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The result broke India’s decade-long winning streak against the Aussies before fans were left more disappointed with the retirements of legends like Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Agarkar has also been in focus ever since Mohammed Shami made his way out of the team. While the senior pacer continues to work hard on his fitness and impressive performances in domestic, he hasn't played a game for India since the Champions Trophy 2025. Recently, there were differences witnessed in the statements of both Agarkar and Shami over the selection and fitness of the right-arm pacer.

The recent captaincy changes also led to big debate in India cricket. While Shubman Gill took over the Test and ODI captaincy from Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav was named the permanent T20I skipper ahead of senior all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

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