Agarkar bowls his son over

The paceman’s toddler is all set to watch dad play at the World Cup, albeit on TV.

“I am a little superstitious to talk about the whole thing,” says Fatima Agarkar.

“Of course, I am very excited about Ajit being part of the team,” she adds. And with this World Cup being predicted as India’s cup, Fatima says all her husband Ajit wants this time (like the rest of us) is to bring the cup home.

“He’s been through a kind of ride that few of his current team members have gone through. Luckily, that didn’t affect us at all, as he keeps his personal and professional life completely separate,” says Fatima of Agarkar’s on and off status on the team since the previous World Cup.

“Ajit has always been self-confident and believes in himself. He keeps telling me, ‘If one is good enough, one will definitely make the team,” she says, adding that more than anything else, Agarkar derives maximum satisfaction from playing for India. “He feels very strongly about belonging to the team.”

So is she going to join her husband in the Caribbean? “I haven’t decided really. I am doing a little juggling act as my I have no maid, I have to look after Raj (the couple’s
17-month-old son) and my work,” she says. Fatima runs a firm that manages various schools. Speaking of her Agarkar Junior, Fatima says he hugged the television when he saw Ajit on it during the warm-up matches. “He seemed really annoyed the minute one of the West Indians was being focused on,” she adds. 

And how is Ajit handling all of it, we ask. “He’s thrilled, confident and hopes to bring home the World Cup. He is with a team that really gels, he and Zak (Zaheer Khan) are great friends and it’s a positive mood. But more than anything else, he likes the West Indies more than anywhere else,” she sums  up.

m_sandhya@dnaindia.net