Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 3
The Ranji Trophy season is unravelling for the Railways because of reasons beyond their control and their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage are practically over. But there is cause for some cheer — a relative youngster, with only two First-Class games in his kitty, has made the team’s fans sit up and take notice.
Sagar Jadhav picked up a creditable 5/34 against Madhya Pradesh in Indore in a losing cause. This performance was backed by a three-wicket burst against Punjab.
Jadhav’s performances have made people like Aavishkar Salvi sing his praises. It is a small matter that Jadhav has done the hard yards in Mumbai’s age-group cricket, including U-23 and A Division cricket for New Hind Sports Club, and has worked with former India international Salvi as well.
“I feel he is a steady bowler and is accurate. The other thing I liked about him is that he gets the ball to move off the pitch. It is a big advantage,” Salvi, the current Punjab coach, said.
“He is a hardworking boy and has the right work ethic. All he has to do is repeat what he is doing. Also, it feels good to see a fast bowler from Mumbai doing well,” Salvi added.
If Salvi is raving about Jadhav, his Railways coach Nikhil Doru is thankful that he has a new bowler he can count on. “He was picked because he did well in the practice matches before the season. The best thing is that he moves the ball both ways, and from the same length. I hope he keeps doing well for us,” Doru said.
Jadhav has worked hard to get a shot at First-Class cricket. Debuting at age 27 is not ideal, though he gave years of service to Mumbai. He was part of Mumbai’s Vijay Hazare Trophy squad in 2017-18 but did not get a single game. When Railways contacted him with a job offer in 2019, Jadhav — whose father, Subhash Chandra, is a CISF assistant sub-inspector — decided to sign up.
Big league
Before that, the right-arm seamer had rubbed shoulders with the likes of New Zealanders Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee and promising India youngster Shivam Mavi during the IPL in Dubai, when he was a Kolkata Knight Riders net bowler. “This stint was wonderful. I picked up a lot about grip, using the conditions and how to vary lengths in different spells from them. Also, bowling to international stars in the KKR team was a different level of pressure for me. I don’t feel that kind of pressure in the domestic circuit,” Jadhav told The Tribune.
While he was delighted to bag his first-ever five-for in FC cricket, Jadhav had to wait until the end of the match to collect a prized memento. He had taken four wickets with the old ball and the fifth with the new ball. “I had to request the match referee (Lakshmi Gandikota) to get the old ball. I have it with me,” he said.
Jadhav, who was picked up as the third seamer against Madhya Pradesh after a regular seamer was dropped, hopes for another standout performance against Jammu & Kashmir, beginning Tuesday. The match has been shifted to Surat’s Lalbhai Contractor Stadium after BCCI curators deemed the Karnail Singh Stadium pitch unworthy for FC cricket.
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