Rajkot was the venue for this unusual ODI record for India. It is not often that you see a match that had Ajit Agarkar shine with the bat as well as Zimbabwe appear in this elite list. But, that is what happened at Rajkot. Rahul Dravid was the captain of the Indian team while there were few newcomers like Sriram, Badani, Reetinder Sodhi - obviously the selectors trying out few youngsters against the Zimbabwe team.
The Indian team with rare failures from Dravid and not-so-great contributions from Tendulkar, Sehwag and Yuvraj were down at 114-5. Badani and Sodhi got together and put a century partnership for the sixth wicket to steady the innings. But what followed at the exit of Badani was amazing. Against the bowling of Heath Streak, Bryan Strang and Nkala, Agarkar went on the rampage. Agarkar hit the fastest fifty for India in ODIs with his big hitting. Four sixes and seven boundaries marked his innings that saw him 67 off 25 balls.
The Indian team with rare failures from Dravid and not-so-great contributions from Tendulkar, Sehwag and Yuvraj were down at 114-5. Badani and Sodhi got together and put a century partnership for the sixth wicket to steady the innings. But what followed at the exit of Badani was amazing. Against the bowling of Heath Streak, Bryan Strang and Nkala, Agarkar went on the rampage. Agarkar hit the fastest fifty for India in ODIs with his big hitting. Four sixes and seven boundaries marked his innings that saw him 67 off 25 balls.
When Zimbabwe batted, Agarkar was not done with the match yet. He took three key wickets including Andy Flower and Doug Marillier to halt the Zimbabwe march. The winner was obvious but the key players who made it happen were the low-key ones ahead of established match-winners. This one is for the unknowns!
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