Ranji Reboot

Vinayak Padmadeo

“Dear red ball, please give me one more chance… I’ll make you proud, promise!” This was an earnest vow of Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat only last month. The left-arm seamer, who led Saurashtra to their maiden Ranji Trophy title in 2020, was itching to get back to playing cricket again.

And why not? In leading his team to victory in March 2020, he had broken a long-standing record for most wickets in a single Ranji season, 62 by Dodda Ganesh. A repeat of that performance next season would have put the paceman in the reckoning for the Indian team. Unadkat’s last India appearance was in a T20I against Bangladesh in Colombo in March 2018.

Due to the Covid situation, there was no Ranji Trophy last season. But now, with the Ranji Trophy getting underway, Unadkat’s hopes of playing for India again are soaring.

Rishi Dhawan, who has played three ODIs and one T20I, falls in the Unadkat bracket — he knows the only way back to wearing India colours is through the hard grind of the domestic circuit. Dhawan, who recently led Himachal Pradesh to their first domestic title in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, says the doors to the Indian dressing room will open only through spending hours and hours on the field.

Getting better

Dhawan, 31, was dropped after appearing in his only T20I, against Zimbabwe in 2016. The last of his three ODIs was playing against Australia in Sydney in 2016. Since then, he has put his mind into getting better at what he does best. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he created history by becoming the first player to finish as the second-highest run-getter (458 runs) and second-highest wicket-taker (17 wickets) in eight matches.

His performance forced even someone like Sunil Gavaskar to back his recall to the Indian team as an all-rounder. Dhawan agrees he is more ready now. “I know I am ready. I just do,” the Himachal captain tells this correspondent.

“I have picked up a lot of things while sharing the dressing room with a lot of great players while playing in the IPL. When I first started I was only concentrating on swing. I would struggle as the white ball rarely swings. Now I can also hit the deck hard when it is not swinging. I have a few new variations as well,” Dhawan says of his new self.

He has worked equally hard in enhancing his skills with the bat. “I got the sense that I would only bat at No. 7 or 8, where you would get 15-20 balls and would need to score quick,” he says. “I went back and worked on my hitting game. Now you see my strike rate has improved in the past few seasons. But all this has come through hard work only. Youngsters have this notion now that a couple of good seasons will get them an IPL contract and may open doors for the Indian team, but that is not true. Proving yourself over and over again in the Ranji Trophy is how you get noticed.”

Life on the up

Punjab’s opening bowler Baltej Singh, who set up the match against Himachal Pradesh with a five-for, is seeing an uptick in his career. The Ludhiana lad, 31, is a regular in his team now but he had to deal with years of disappointment of seeing others bag an IPL contract.

Baltej was lucky to travel with Punjab Kings as a net bowler in the last edition. Now he has got his first fat check with the same team.

“There was disappointment at first, but the only thing a player can do is work hard. I did that too. Got in touch with our trainer and he gave me exercises focusing on strength and conditioning,” Baltej says, explaining the change he brought into his daily routine. “I then got in touch with a dietician. Out went paranthe, gulab jamun and all the sweets that I loved to eat. Now I am eating ragi and bajra rotis.”

“It took a lot of time for me to cement my place in the Punjab team. I wasn’t regular. Now things are looking up for me and I am even trying to work hard on my batting in the nets, for one never knows when one is needed to score runs. I am doing this because now I have a chance to make my dreams come true,” he adds.

Grind

Baltej’s teammate Anmol Malhotra, a wicketkeeper-batsman, is on the other end of the spectrum. He has not yet hit high standards in white-ball cricket for Punjab. The Patiala boy is hardwired to enjoy and perform whenever he gets to play. “Problem with batsmen is that teams do not have a concept like net batsmen in bubble times. Baltej Paaji deserved getting picked. He should have gotten the contract long back. He got to impress the team during nets. People like me will not get that chance to impress,” explains Malhotra.

The break in the Ranji Trophy affected him harder than the rest as he was the team’s second-highest run-scorer in the last edition played. Hoping for a repeat performance, he had to survive on the BCCI’s benevolence as it paid players 50 per cent match fees in lieu of not organising the tournament last season.

“I do not have a job so under the circumstances I had to budget everything. This is normal, most of our players have to pass this phase. But yes, I was a little disappointed as I wanted to play again last year to back previous season’s performance,” the 26-year-old says.

“For some time I flirted with the idea of joining Railways as my mother retired from there but the pride of representing my state forced me to wait for my chance. Now that the season is back, all I want to do is to show my skills and hope things change for better,” he explains.

In deep end

For Yash Dhull, life is just starting. After leading the Indian colts to their fifth Under-19 World Cup title, the Delhi boy has been thrown in the deep end of the Ranji Trophy. The 19-year-old wanted to spend some time with his family as he had been on the road for over two months. Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) president Rohan Jaitley and his selectors led by Ashu Dani asked him to play instead. Dhull made his First-Class debut a memorable one as he stroked a century, making a 150-ball 113 against Tamil Nadu.

“The selectors and DDCA chief Rohan Jaitley assured him that we will back you even if you fail,” DDCA selector Chetanya Nanda discloses. “He was told to open as we needed a fresh opener and he would not get any opportunity in the middle-order. He agreed and took his chance well,” Nanda, a former Delhi leg-spinner, adds.

The Delhi bosses are keen to groom Dhull as they feel he is too good a talent to be risked losing.

“We are conscious that he needs to be groomed the right way. Right now he gets anxious in speaking to the media, fearing his words may be construed as a controversy. With time we are all sure he will survive this as he is a well-grounded boy,” Nanda adds.

Only time will tell whether Dhull would grow up to be like Virat Kohli or Unmukt Chand or Prithvi Shaw – three of the past U-19 captains. Delhi, and India, want him to emulate Kohli, of course, and he’s begun well with a First-Class 100.