BENGALURU: Red-ball specialists endure unidimensional careers, sometimes even taking the Indian Premier League route to make their way back to the Indian team. A classic case is 35-year-old Ajinkya Rahane, who was recalled after more than a year-and-half later, his Ranji scores and IPL exploits helping his cause.
On the other hand, the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari and Abhimanyu Easwaran continue to toil on the domestic circuit or sign up for county stints.
The Duleep Trophy offers a platform for such players and young guns to be on the radar of the national selectors.
Starting Wednesday, when the last-four contests get underway, the focus will be on batters, led by West Zone’s Cheteshwar Pujara. While defending champions West Zone take on Central Zone, hosts and last edition’s runners-up South will square off against North Zone.
Apart from Pujara, the West line-up includes Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, each wanting to make a bold statement with the bat.
South will start favourites in what promises to be a show of batting might in overcast Bengaluru. The team, which plays at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, too has many national team aspirants with Sai Sudarshan, N Jagadeesan and a young Thilak Verma joining skipper Vihari, Washington Sundar and Mayank Agarwal.
For players like Vihari and Agarwal, who are at a crossroads of their careers, the tournament assumes greater significance.
Vihari said, “It’s tough to make a comeback once you are dropped or left out of the Indian team. It affects your mindset. I went through that last season. If anyone is saying that I’m motivated to come back, they may be. But it took a lot of time for me to understand why I was dropped and then motivate myself to make a comeback. Now, I’m in a good space, where I just want to get some runs and leave the rest to the selectors or whoever else is taking the call.”
The Hyderabadi, who is tipped to move to Madhya Pradesh for the upcoming season, is still searching for answers after being ignored by the national selectors for a year. “Even now I’m not sure why I was dropped because whenever I got a chance, I thought I did well. Maybe my best was not good enough for the Indian team. I’ll try to keep getting better.”
He drew inspiration with Rahane’s comeback at 35.
“Hope is always there. You will want to come back until you retire. I’m 29, I still have it in me. You’ve seen Ajinkya Rahane make a comeback at 35. I feel I still have a lot to contribute to the Indian side, especially in Test cricket,” stated Vihari.
“But I don’t have an opportunity to make an impact at the IPL, so I only have the domestic season and have to grind it out.” The disappointment in Vihari’s voice is unmistakable.
“People have branded me a Test player, but it is unfair. In the IPL, I did well when I was 19 and 20. Although I’ve grown as a white-ball player, I haven’t got many opportunities. Hopefully I can make a comeback in the IPL because many players are getting red ball opportunities through good performances in the IPL. Going forward I want to play all formats,” reasoned Vihari.
On the other hand, the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari and Abhimanyu Easwaran continue to toil on the domestic circuit or sign up for county stints.
The Duleep Trophy offers a platform for such players and young guns to be on the radar of the national selectors.
Starting Wednesday, when the last-four contests get underway, the focus will be on batters, led by West Zone’s Cheteshwar Pujara. While defending champions West Zone take on Central Zone, hosts and last edition’s runners-up South will square off against North Zone.
Apart from Pujara, the West line-up includes Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, each wanting to make a bold statement with the bat.
South will start favourites in what promises to be a show of batting might in overcast Bengaluru. The team, which plays at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, too has many national team aspirants with Sai Sudarshan, N Jagadeesan and a young Thilak Verma joining skipper Vihari, Washington Sundar and Mayank Agarwal.
For players like Vihari and Agarwal, who are at a crossroads of their careers, the tournament assumes greater significance.
Vihari said, “It’s tough to make a comeback once you are dropped or left out of the Indian team. It affects your mindset. I went through that last season. If anyone is saying that I’m motivated to come back, they may be. But it took a lot of time for me to understand why I was dropped and then motivate myself to make a comeback. Now, I’m in a good space, where I just want to get some runs and leave the rest to the selectors or whoever else is taking the call.”
The Hyderabadi, who is tipped to move to Madhya Pradesh for the upcoming season, is still searching for answers after being ignored by the national selectors for a year. “Even now I’m not sure why I was dropped because whenever I got a chance, I thought I did well. Maybe my best was not good enough for the Indian team. I’ll try to keep getting better.”
He drew inspiration with Rahane’s comeback at 35.
“Hope is always there. You will want to come back until you retire. I’m 29, I still have it in me. You’ve seen Ajinkya Rahane make a comeback at 35. I feel I still have a lot to contribute to the Indian side, especially in Test cricket,” stated Vihari.
“But I don’t have an opportunity to make an impact at the IPL, so I only have the domestic season and have to grind it out.” The disappointment in Vihari’s voice is unmistakable.
“People have branded me a Test player, but it is unfair. In the IPL, I did well when I was 19 and 20. Although I’ve grown as a white-ball player, I haven’t got many opportunities. Hopefully I can make a comeback in the IPL because many players are getting red ball opportunities through good performances in the IPL. Going forward I want to play all formats,” reasoned Vihari.
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