I had been waiting for more than an hour at the “Narthakot Maidan,” where one of the biggest tennis ball tournaments was going on. Being eleven years old, I had to bunk my tuitions to watch this youngster basking in the limelight. Needless to say, he was the latest sensation of Solapur and, of course, Maharashtra Cricket Association.
Minutes after he had arrived and was escorted to the stage as a guest for an event, I was thrilled to see such a young guy sitting on the stage next to experienced politicians and tournament organizers. This was the first time I saw him, and I’m honored to say that I played a few local matches under his captaincy and that I have been trained by him as well.
We finally caught hold of this sensation after quite a few years, and this is an exclusive interview with Rohit Jadhav, who is the face of Cricket in Solapur. Rohit Jadhav, born on 2nd April 1987 in (Nanaj) Solapur, has shared the dressing room with Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Zaheer Khan, Ramesh Powar, Wasim Jaffer, Parthiv Patel, Amol Muzumdar, Yusuf Pathan, and Munaf Patel.
Without further ado, we bring you excerpts from the interview:
On how his cricketing journey started:
My father was very fond of Cricket and a big fan. He had played Cricket as a part of his bank’s team back then. He was a huge fan of Sunil Gavaskar and his dream to make me a cricketer like him. So, he put me into club cricket at the age of 10. That’s how I started my club cricket journey from the SSI cricket club in Solapur.
Cricketing influences while growing up:
My father has a massive role in my life for my successes. When it comes to Cricket, my coaches and senior players have a huge role in it. I would like to mention my coach Vasudev Dornal sir, seniors Humayun Hirapure, Ambadas Tora, Avinash Sanga, and Praveen Ippalpalli. There are even more who contributed to my growth whom I have not mentioned. I was privileged to play under them at a very young age of 14, which gave me the confidence that helped me at a higher level.
His idol growing up:
I used to idolize Saqlain Mushtaq. In the nineties, he was the best orthodox spinner. His specialty of spinning the ball the other way with a delivery, whose release was similar to a normal off-spin, always fascinated me.
His First-class debut and his captain back then:
I debuted in first-class Cricket through The Ranji Trophy on 23rd November 2005 against Bengal at Pune. At that time, our captain was Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who had played for India.
Nerves on his debut:
Obviously, I was a bit nervous because the former Indian skipper, Sourav Ganguly, would be on the opposition team. Sourav was one of the best batsmen against spinners in those days internationally. However, I eventually ended up bowling my first ever Ranji over maiden against him, and that gave me confidence, and I understood that I could cope up at that level.
Some memories from his Warm-up match against Australia:
To be honest, I was not sure whether I would be there in the playing 11 because it was a One-day match and playing three spinners at Wankhede was near impossible. Since we had players like Sairaj Bahutule and Sridharan Sriram, who played for India and used to bowl ten overs regularly in addition to our captain Kanitkar who used to bowl five overs, I was sure that I wasn’t going to play. But there was a twist in the tale. Just before the match, our Coach and Captain came inside the dressing room for a quick discussion. They informed us that we were to field first. Chandrakant Pandit sir was our coach, and I still remember these words from him, “Hrishikesh, the wicket looks a bit damp, it will spin initially, I think we should start with Rohit.” That’s when I knew that I was going to play and, in fact, start the innings by bowling to Adam Gilchrist and Shane Watson, who were going to open the innings for the batting team.
On playing against the dominating Aussie team from the Golden Era:
Obviously, I was nervous! When you realize that you’re going to play against a side with Adam Gilchrist, Shane Watson, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, and Brett Lee, you get jitters. But I kept telling myself that I would back my basics and bowl confidently. I ended up giving only one run in my first over against Gilchrist and even placed a fielder in silly point, which I think no spinner ever dared to do against Gilchrist in the limited-overs format as far as I remember.
On his prize wickets of Adam Gilchrist and Damien Martyn:
To be frank, I didn’t celebrate much. I’m much like a Sunil Narine who never celebrates while picking wickets. I was an introvert. I loved taking wickets and getting the job done for the team but celebrating was always within me.
Dressing room experience with players from the current Indian Cricket Team:
We were at West-Zone Academy for the match against Mumbai Ranji Colts. We were batting first, and Cheteshwar Pujara and Prashant Naik were batting at that stage. Rohit Sharma was next in line to bat. Rohit and I were sitting together in the pavilion watching them play, and Rohit said, “Yeh out nahi hone wale! Agar koi out hota hai to mujhe utha de.” (“These two don’t look like they will get out! If someone gets out, wake me up.”) He then went on to sleep for like 90 odd minutes until Prashant got out. Then he woke up, splashed water on his face, went in, and scored a blitzkrieg 150 in no time! I still remember that savage innings from Rohit Sharma, and it is no wonder that he has three double hundreds! He had had that ability to accelerate right from when he was young.
Best Cricketing Memory:
Getting the wicket of VVS Laxman is a memory that I can never forget in my life. We played against Laxman’s team and were doing well with 230 runs on the board, losing just two wickets. We needed a wicket at that stage, and I happened to dismiss one of the best test players of that era. The wicket was even precious as VVS was one of the best against Spinners. We ended up drawing the match, and that wicket of VVS played a considerable role in the result.
On ending his Cricketing career:
I was just 22 years old when I met with an accident that caused a severe injury to my right shoulder. It was so impactful that I couldn’t bowl with the same rhythm and pace I had earlier, which eventually turned out to be the ending to my career.
The Favourite current player in the World:
Kane Williamson is my favorite player. His calmness in delivering the results for the team is what I like the most. If you have noticed, he has carried the burden of their entire team. Of course, Ross (Taylor) has played a part too. But, in the 2019 edition of the World Cup, he won some matches for New Zealand single-handedly. He has that special ability to back his strength and bring out the best in pressure situations. Even in the current ongoing Test Championship, the team is very much reliant on his batting. They have good bowlers, and his captaincy is one of the reasons for New Zealand to reach the 2019 World Cup Final and now again to the final of the World Test Championship.
Batsman whom he would love to bowl against:
The swashbuckling left-hander “Rishabh Pant” is someone I would have liked to bowl against. He is pure talent, and at such a young age, he can smash you all over the park. The way he played against Nathan Lyon in the recent Border-Gavaskar trophy was remarkable. Being a right-arm off-break bowler, it would have been great to contest with Rishabh Pant.
Rapid-fire Questions:
1. Which sport do you like other than Cricket?
Tennis.
2. Who is your all-time favorite cricketer?
Sourav Ganguly
3. Who was the funniest guy you had come across in your cricketer career?
Satyajit Jadhav
4. If you get a chance to meet one particular cricketer to spend an hour with, who would you meet?
MS Dhoni
5. Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid and Muttiah Muralitharan or Shane Warne?
Tendulkar and Muralitharan
6. If you had to choose one captain between Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni, who would it be?
Sourav Ganguly
7. Which format do you love the most among all the three cricketing formats?
Test cricket
8. Favourite food?
Chicken Biryani
9. Your favorite holiday destination?
Goa.
10. What do you do in your free time?
I play games on my mobile.
Overall journey:
Rohit Jadhav played 13 first-class matches and picked 24 wickets. He also played against Srilanka A, Australia, and was a part of MPL (Maharashtra Premier League).
Current life:
Rohit Jadhav works at the Income-tax department and is coaching youngsters through his cricket club, “Model Cricket academy.” He had topped the state umpiring exam recently and has become a state-level umpire. He is also an under-14 selector at the Maharashtra cricket association.
