Nehra or Agarkar ?

The Indian team for tri-series in Sri Lanka has been announced.The five wise-men of Indian cricket have preferred Ashish Nehra over Ajit Agarkar for the Tri-Series in Sri Lanka, however a look at the performance of these two players since 2003 World Cup portrays a different picture altogether.

This is how two players have performed since 2003 World Cup:

Bowler   Mts Wkts  Ave.  Best  4W  SR     RpO  W/M
Agarkar  25   40  23.53  6-42  2  28.00  5.04  1.60
Nehra    21   29  34.52  4-72  1  37.31  5.55  1.38

Agarkar is the second most successful Indian bowler in this period after Irfan Pathan, who has taken 47 wickets after playing in four matches more than Agarkar. Agarkar’s average is the best among the regular bowlers (who have taken at least 5 wickets in this period) and so is his strike rate. Agarkar’s economy rate, though not as impressive as one would like, is the best among the Indian pacers (who have played at least 5 matches). Also Agarkar’s 6 for 42 against Australia in VB Series match is the best performance by an Indian bowler in this period. And he is the only Indian pacer to take two four-wicket hauls (Sachin Tendulkar also has two four-fers with his mixed kind of stuff).

Clearly if any pacer deserves to be there in Sri Lanka, it has to be Agarkar. But selection committee had different opinion and that is what matters most!