Slight, fiery and gifted, Ajit Agarkar never came to terms with being seen as a match-winner with bat and ball for India in the Kapil Dev mould. The ingredients were there, and in the right proportions, but they never formed a long-lasting mix.

Agarkar's entry into international cricket - with an avalanche of wickets that made him the fastest to 50 in ODIs at the time - was matched for precocity only by an astonishing batting slump during which he collected seven consecutive Test ducks against Australia. But he could bat, because tailenders do not score half-centuries in 21 balls, as Agarkar did in a one-day game against Zimbabwe, or make Test hundreds at Lord's, as he did in some style in 2002. His best performance - and only Test five-for - came in a famous win for India, a match haul of 8 for 160 in Adelaide in 2003-04.

His aggression was an asset, but his body could not sometimes support it. He turned into a one-day specialist, and was arguably India's most effective ODI bowler in 2005-06, but a disappointing World Cup campaign in 2007 resulted in him being dropped for the Bangladesh series that followed, and though he made it to the ODI squad that toured England in the summer of 2007, that was his last international outing.

He remained a domestic force to be reckoned with, though, as his five-wicket haul in one of the most thrilling Ranji Trophy finals, in Mysore in 2010 attested. He took 5 for 81 as Karnataka, chasing a target of 338, were bowled out for 331 in the post-lunch session of the fourth day's play. Agarkar captained Mumbai in the 2012-13 season, leading them to their 40th Ranji Trophy title, and announced his retirement from all cricket before the start of the following domestic season.