The Indian Premier League 2020 runners-up are set to rope in former India fast bowler Ajit Agarkar as their new assistant coach ahead of the 2022 edition of the tournament, ESPNcricinfo stated in a report.
Agarkar looks set to join the Delhi franchise’s support staff and play assistant coach to Ricky Ponting. He will be filling in the role that previously Mohammad Kaif and Ajay Ratra played for varying periods until the end of the 2021 campaign. Kaif played the hands-on job upon his appointment back in 2019, and it seems Ratra’s contract with the franchise was only for the 2021 season.
Apart from entering the team’s support staff, Agarkar will also be closely involved in the “leadership group” where Ponting and skipper Rishabh Pant play the decisive figures for DC, which finished third in the tournament last year.
“Agarkar will perform various roles while acting as one of the deputies to head coach Ricky Ponting. Agarkar will also be part of the leadership group comprising Ponting, captain Rishabh Pant, batting coach Praveen Amre and bowling coach James Hopes,”
ESPNcricinfo reported.
This will be the first time since his retirement in 2013 that Agarkar will be taking a high-profile coaching gig. India and Mumbai veteran has been a regular feature on commentary and broadcasting work in this period and is now set to take a new challenge in his post-playing career.
The 44-year-old last played for India back in 2007 in a career where his wicket-taking ability and promising lower-order batting capabilities stood out. He remains India’s third-highest ODI wicket-taker with 288 scalps behind only Anil Kumble (334) and Javagal Srinath (315).
The right-arm seamer bagged 58 wickets in his 26 Tests, including a match-winning second-innings six-fer to help India clinch a historic Test win in Adelaide against the mighty Australians back in the 2003-04 season.
It was India’s first Test victory Down Under in over 22 years and allowed them to level the four-Test series 1-1, retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Agarkar is also known for his fighting century in the 2002 Lord’s Test against England.
