Ajitesh Argal is a professional cricketer born on September 21, 1988 in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. This all-rounder, who bowls medium-pace as well as bats down the order, is by his nicknames “Mintu” and "Ajji". His father K. K. Argal and brother both have represented the Bhopal cricket team.
Ajitesh Argal started playing cricket at the age of 10 and was soon selected for his state Madhya Pradesh to play at the Under-14 level. In 2008, he was included in the Indian U-19 squad for the U-19 World Cup held in Malaysia. During this tournament, he was a member of the squad that had an impressive winning streak, defeating Papua New Guinea, South Africa, and West Indies and emerged as table-toppers in their group. He was a member of the squad that defeated NewZeland by three wickets in the semifinals to face South Africa in the finals of this tournament played on March 2, 2007. With India defending a small total, Ajitesh Argal bowled brilliantly to pick the wickets of Pieter Malan and Riley Rossouw and helped the team lift the 2008 U-19 World Cup. In this game, he finished with his best ever bowling figures of 2/5 from 5 overs and was awarded the Man of the Match award for his spectacular performance. Following this, the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced a reward of Rs.500, 000 in appreciation of his efforts. As of 2008, he has taken a total of 8 wickets from 5 matches he has played at an average of 12.75 with an economy rate of 2.91 at the U-19 level.
In 2008, Ajitesh Argal signed with the Indian Premier League (IPL) side Kings XI Punjab side and was a member of the squad that finished as the runners-up in the semi-final of this tournament.
Ajitesh Argal considers former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath and former India captain Kapil Dev as his role models in cricket for their fitness and consistency. Ajitesh Argal aims to become an all-rounder like Kapil Dev some day.
