Agarkar blast leaves Hyderabad in trouble

In the initial years of his international career,Ajit Agarkar was sometimes looked upon,perhaps in hope,as a probable replacement for Kapil Dev.

In the initial years of his international career,Ajit Agarkar was sometimes looked upon,perhaps in hope,as a probable replacement for Kapil Dev. But the Mumbai pacer never matched the consistency of Indias greatest all-rounder. After playing for nearly a decade,the all-rounder tag at least rings true for Agarkar when he plays with the Mumbai crest. Agarkar (199 runs) is the second-highest run-getter for Mumbai this season after skipper Wasim Jaffer and has taken 10 wickets in five matches.

On Tuesday,after Mumbai lost the toss yet again and had to field,they were forced to bank once more on the experience of Agarkar. Despite Mumbais dominance,Hyderabad successfully regrouped from the early jolts. At stumps,the home side were 223 for 7 in 90 overs and had managed to fend off their opponents tight bowling to avoid a complete collapse. Ahmed Quadri is batting on 48 off 126 balls while MP Arjun is on eight runs.

When the sun started its journey from East to West,Agarkar had started his assault on the inexperienced Hyderabad batting line-up. Opener Shashank Nag offered an easy caught-and-bowled chance to Agarkar while southpaw Rushi Raj couldnt handle an in-coming delivery. Agarkars first spell of 9-3-17-2 set the tone for Mumbai and then it was the turn of other pacers to take centrestage. Agarkar finished his day with three wickets but Mumbai still need three wickets before coming out to bat.

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Dhaval Kulkarni continued his second-season blues and it was pacer Avishkar Salvi who took charge. He found Anirudh Singh on the back-foot while replays showed the southpaw had hit the ball first and then the pad.

With wickets falling at regular intervals,Ambati Rayudu and Abhinav Kumar fought bravely to tackle the Mumbai bowlers. From 31 for 3 at one stage,the pair took Hyderabad to safety by adding 55 runs for the fourth wicket. In his innings of 27,Rayudu played fearlessly and showcased some quality drives before Abhishek Nayar was adjudged plumb in front of the middle stump one of the five lbw dismissals today. Abhinav tried to settle down but became Agarkars third victim.

Ibrahim Khaleel and Ahmed Quadri played cautiously,giving no chance to spinners Ramesh Powar and Iqbal Abdulla. After adding a crucial 73 runs for sixth wicket,Khaleel was trapped by Ramesh Powar on back foot. Tailender Amol Shinde (23) tried his best to add some quick runs but his blade found the edge to Vinayak Samant off Salvi.

Brief scores: Hyderabad 223 for 7 (Abhinav Kumar 35,Ahmed Quadri 48 not out,Ibrahim Khaleel 35; Ajit Agarkar 3/35,A Salvi 2/32) vs Mumbai.