da pixbet： © CricInfo Ever since Manoj Prabhakar was suddenly axed following anindifferent World Cup in 1996, there has been a crying need foran all-rounder in Indian cricket
Partab Ramchand08-Sep-2002
© CricInfoEver since Manoj Prabhakar was suddenly axed following anindifferent World Cup in 1996, there has been a crying need foran all-rounder in Indian cricket. When Ajit Agarkar burst uponthe scene in the late 90s, he was reckoned by some in Indiancricket circles to be the most exciting player since Kapil Dev.The lad had loads of talent and it remained to be seen whether hehad the temperament for the big occasion to develop into thecountry’s next all-rounder.Till last month, he, however, carried the rather unwanted tag ofone of the biggest disappointments in Indian cricket. In spite ofample opportunities, he had not cemented a place in the Testside, though, few doubted his capabilities in limited-overscricket. And despite his recent hundred in the Lord’s Test andhis ability to occasionally trouble the best of batsmen with hisdeceptively whippy pace off the wicket, he cannot yet be hailedas the answer to the country’s prayer for an all-rounder. At themoment, it is to be hoped that he emerges as one of the severalutility players that Indian cricket has produced in the last 70years.I would like to think that there is a marked difference between agenuine all-rounder and a general utility player. An all-rounderhas been termed as one who can hold his place in the side solelyon the strength of his batting or his bowling. He is the kind whocan win matches virtually on his own, can smite a hundred or taketen wickets in a match or better still, do both in the same Testlike some of the greatest names in the game have done.A utility player, on the other hand, is one who scores 30 or 40runs and takes two or three wickets. Once in a way, he steps onthe bigger stage with a hundred or a five-wicket haul.Indian cricket has had the good fortune of producing all-roundersof the calibre of Lala Amarnath, Vinoo Mankad, Dattu Phadkar,Polly Umrigar, Gulabrai Ramchand, Bapu Nadkarni, Chandu Borde(till a shoulder injury caused him to give up bowling his legspinners), Salim Durrani, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri and ManojPrabhakar. All these players got at least one Test hundred andexcept in the cases of Ramchand and Borde, more than one fivewicket haul.But, then, it is not possible for everyone to be genuine allrounders and again it has been Indian cricket’s good fortune tohave produced a number of utility players, who have served thecountry admirably. Not one has scored a hundred, all haveaverages in the early or mid-twenties with the bat and in thethirties or early forties with the ball. Barring one, none ofthem has taken over 100 wickets in Tests.Perhaps our first utility cricketer was discovered in India’sfirst-ever Test match. Ladha Amar Singh is rated in some circlesas an all-rounder – he was the first to complete the double of1000 runs and 100 wickets in the Ranji Trophy. But his Testfigures – 292 runs from seven Tests at an average of 22.46 with ahighest score of 51, his only half-century and bowling figures of28 wickets at 30.64 apiece prove otherwise. Perhaps over anextended career he might have developed into an all-rounder. Buthe never got the opportunity, due to the limited Tests played inthe thirties and by the fact that he passed away at 29.In the sixties, while there were fine all-rounders in Borde,Nadkarni and Durrani around, the Indian team also had theservices of Rusi Surti. The ‘poor man’s Sobers’ as he was knownwas an aggressive left-hand middleor late-order batsman and abustling left-arm medium-pace bowler who could also switch tospin, hence the comparison. Initially in and out of the teambecause of the presence of the all-rounders, Surti forced his wayin as a regular member of the team late in the decade.In Australia in 1967-68, Surti achieved the status of a genuineall-rounder with his notable double of 367 runs and 15 wickets inthe four-Test series. Overall, however, he could be termed as astar utility man as his figures will convey – 1263 runs from 26Tests at an average of 28.70 with a top score of 99. His bowlingcould be a bit wayward, symbolised by his career figures of 42wickets at an average of 46.71 with one five-wicket haul.As Borde, Nadkarni and Surti were all in the evening of theircareers in the late sixties, Abid Ali appeared on the scene totake on some of their responsibilities. As opening batsman or inthe middle-order, Abid Ali rendered yeomen service to the teamwith some invaluable knocks. As a medium-pace bowler who couldswing the ball a good deal, particularly in the helpfulconditions in England, Abid could be relied upon to give an earlybreak or to end a troublesome partnership with one of hisspecialist shooters.He fell just short of the genuine all-rounder status by hisinability to get a Test hundred but his final figures convey hisundoubted utility qualities 1018 runs from 29 Tests at anaverage of 20.36 with six fifties and a highest score of 81 andbowling figures of 47 wickets at an average of 42.l2 with onefive-wicket haul.
© CricInfoThe popularity of one-day cricket in the 70s and 80s saw thepresence of a greater number of utility players. But while theydid more than their bit in the limited overs game, they wereunder the shadow of Kapil Dev in Test cricket. The figures ofMadan Lal, Karsan Ghavri and Roger Binny clearly indicate this.All of them played much of their cricket alongside Kapil. Andwhile the peerless all-rounder held centrestage most of the time,there were times when the trio stole the thunder from him. Theircareer figures are remarkably similar.Binny, from 27 Tests, scored 830 runs at an average of 23.06 withfive fifties and a highest score of 83 not out and finished withbowling figures of 47 wickets at an average of 32.63 with twofive-wicket hauls. Ghavri in 39 Tests scored 913 runs at anaverage of 21.23 with two fifties and a highest score of 86 andhad bowling figures of 109 wickets at 33.54 apiece with fourfive-wicket hauls. Madan Lal got 1042 runs from 39 Tests at anaverage of 22.65 with five fifties and a highest score of 74 andhe had bowling figures of 71 wickets at an average of 40.08 withfour five-wicket hauls.Madan Lal played his last Test in 1986 and Binny a year later.Since then, Arshad Ayub flickered briefly but faded away after abright start while Sunil Joshi has been more out than in theside.To an extent, Agarkar has crossed the utility status with hisLord’s hundred but there is little doubt that he has not yetreached the genuine all-rounder’s status. For that, he will haveto be much more consistent with both the bat and the ball. At themoment, though, he is still a valuable utility cricketer andremains the best bet to develop into the all-rounder that theIndian team sorely needs.