The Kapil Dev of Delhi that India denied

November 17, 2012
KapilNew Delhi, November 17: His achievements for Delhi are comparable with Steven Gerrard's for Liverpool and Ryan Giggs' for Manchester United. He plays with the same heart and passion as a Leander Paes for India in the Davis Cup. He has worked day in and day out, burnt midnight oil, given it all he has and taken Delhi to the pinnacle through his sheer commitment, hardwork, dedication and determination.


The unassuming and grounded old war-horse - Rajat Bhatia is a man of few words who lets his performances on the field do the talking. An extraordinary all-rounder, his feats speak for themselves. In 74 first-class matches, he has scored 4242 runs at an average of 48.20 with 11 centuries. A member of the MRF Pace Foundation when he was young, his efforts with the ball have been equally impressive. He has picked up 88 wickets conceding just 28.39 runs per dismissal.

He was the unsung hero of Delhi's Ranji triumph in 2007. He scored a whopping 512 runs in 7 matches and also picked up 26 wickets at an astonishing 12.65 per wicket. Despite turning the match on its head with a brilliant, fighting and counter-attacking 139 in the 1st innings in the Final, which was actually the performance of the match, much of the credit went to the skipper Gautam Gambhir for his 2nd innings ton and to Pradeep Sangwan for his 9 wickets.

Bhatia spoke to Cricbuzz about how he felt about the same. "I have never looked for rewards and accolades. I just go there and give my 100% every time I turn out on the cricket field. If my contributions are recognized, I am grateful and if they are not, I take it as a part of life and move on. No point holding any grudges."

He started his career at Tamil Nadu as he had completed his education from there and had joined the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai under the guidance of TA Sekhar. He found it a bit difficult to get admission into a Delhi College as they were not willing to grant him leaves to practise his cricket. Moreover, coming from a humble and modest background, he wanted to establish himself financially and the clubs in Chennai were offering him a good deal.

Perhaps, Bhatia was India's answer to the elusive all-rounder that the national team so desperately seeked after the retirement of Kapil Dev. He may not have had the talent the great Indian all-rounder was gifted with but certainly deserved a chance to prove his worth. Many tipped him to break into the senior Indian team at various points in the middle of 2000s but the selectors ignored this all-rounder of great potential and turned their backs on him - a true and deserving cricketer lost in the politics of the Indian Board. When asked about when he thought was the opportune time for him to make that cut to international cricket, Bhatia said, " I feel the opportune time for me was in 2001 when India toured Zimbabwe. But I was ignored. Despite performing consistently well in domestic cricket, I wasn't even selected for the Challenger Trophy and never received a call from the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. My state Board did not back me." The disappointment was quite evident in his voice.

"The most the Indian Board has done for me is to send me to an India-A tour of Israel when I was left out from the national team's tour to Australia." Then almost changing the tone, he remarked humourously, "At least they did send me for that promotional tour to Israel. I must thank them for that. I got to see Jerusalem as a tourist and absolutely loved it - so much history and culture".


On what kept the motivation going even after the frustration of not being selected for the national team, Rajat said, "Of course there was frustration and a tinge of sadness. But there was no time and no point in regretting. I had to move forward. I love the game and that is what kept me going day in and day out. I wanted to set an example to other youngsters who if faced with a similar situation, should not give up but just continue to work hard and spread the positive energy. There is a lot of pleasure in playing domestic cricket."


Bhatia also spoke about the dwindling fortunes of Delhi after the Golden Era between 1976-1991. "Collectively, I think we did not get a bunch of good players together during this period. There were a few good cricketers but 2-3 players can't win you a game alone"


On players that have motivated him the first name he mentioned was that of Yuvraj Singh. "He was my room-mate when we played for India Under-19. I have seen many talented cricketers, but Yuvi is perhaps the most gifted. I always knew that he would come back with a bang from the illness as he has always been a fighter. When he won the World Cup in 2011, I told him that he was born to win us the Cup. Now he is desperate to prove himself and leave a mark in Tests as well. I wish him all the best"


"Of course, Sachin has been a great source of inspiration for all of us. We literally worship him. Another cricketer for whom I have a lot of admiration and have shared the dressing room with in the IPL for Kolkatta Knight Riders is, Jacques Kallis. His physical fitness amazes me. His dedication and love for the game is unparalleled. He has taken so much burden on his shoulders and come out with aplomb"

Amongst domestic players, he said he could relate to Amol Muzumdar and Mithun Manhas amongst others, who have done remarkably well for their respective states but have been unlucky having not made the cut to the senior level.

He added that his brother who played club cricket was a big source of inspiration for him.

Bhatia is from the old-school of thought and he firmly belives that Test cricket is the purest form of cricket and what one learns from playing the domestic seasons for their state sides can't be compared to the IPL or T20 cricket. He says, "A good Test player can be a good T20 player but the contrary is not always true."


He added that the experiences of the IPL and the CLT20 had been memorable and he had learnt a lot from sharing the KKR dressing room with the likes of Jacques Kallis, Brett Lee and Sunil Narine.

On what his future plans are, Bhatia replied, "I just want to enjoy my cricket and not think about anything else. I do not set any goals for myself anymore. I don't want to end with any regrets."


He also had a message for the youngsters who are passionate about cricket and want to pursue it as a career. "The first message I would like to give to all budding cricketers is to have passion for the game and then strive hard to work towards your goal. There is no substitute for hardwork. Be a good student of the game. Try and play for the same team and don't frequently change states for minor interests. Be disciplined and keep reasonable goals for yourself."

He may not have the flamboyance of Virat Kohli, the sheer gift and ruthlessness of Virender Sehwag or the aggression of Gautam Gambhir, but one thing was sure - that with a lot of hardwork, passion and determination , even the less talented mortals can dare to dream and in Rajat's case, even the so called 'ordinary' can achieve the 'extraordinary'.

May be the fortunes of Delhi would be revived, when one of her most faithful and loyal servants, Rajat Bhatia makes a comeback, for the team would be desperate for someone of his experience and guile to take them to the top again.



Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 27,2020

Melbourne, Feb 27: Shafali Verma's 34-ball 46 followed by a superlative performance from the bowlers helped India notch up a narrow four-run win over New Zealand in a crucial group A match of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup on Thursday.

Invited to bat, India posted a below-par 133 for eight against New Zealand in the crucial group A match with Shafali top-scoring with a 34-ball 46 and Taniya Bhatia chipping in with a 25-ball 23.

India, however, produced a disciplined performance with the ball to restrict New Zealand to 129 for six and register their third successive win in the tournament.

With this win, India topped Group A, having beaten Australia and Bangladesh in their last two outing.

Defending the total, India introduced spin straight away but Deepti Sharma bled 12 runs with opener Rachel Priest (12) hitting her for two boundaries.

But experienced pacer Shikha Pandey removed Priest in the next over when she had her caught at mid wicket.

With Shikha and left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad bowling in tandem, New Zealand played with caution to reach 28 for one.

Back into the attack, Deepti then cleaned up Bates with a beauty of a delivery as New Zealand slipped to 30 for two.

Poonam Yadav and Radha Yadav then mounted the pressure on the Kiwis and soon the Black Caps were 34 for 3 when the former dismissed skipper Sophie Devine (14).

Maddy Green (24) and Katey Martin (25) then tried to resurrect the innings with a 36-ball 43-run stand.

However, Gayakwad returned to remove Green, who danced down the pitch only to end up with an outside edge as Bhatia did the rest.

Radha then dismissed Martin to leave New Zealand at 90 for 5 in 16.3 overs.

Needing 44 off 21 balls, Kerr (34) blasted four boundaries to accumulate 18 runs in the penultimate over bowled by Poonam to bring the equation down to 16 off six balls.

In the final over, Heyley Jensen (11) and Kerr cracked a four each but Shikha held her nerves in the end to complete the win.

Earlier, 16-year-old Shafali provided the fireworks as India scored 49 for one in the powerplay overs. But they lost six wickets for 43 runs to squander the good start.

Smriti Mandhana (11), who returned to the playing XI after missing the last match due to illness, departed early but Shafali and Taniya (23) kept the scoreboard ticking, adding 51 runs for the second wicket.

In the 10th over, Taniya was caught by Amelia Kerr at backward point, while Jemimah Rodrigues (10) was caught by Kerr in the 12th over as India slipped to 80 for 3.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's (1) poor form also continued as she was soon back to the hut after being caught and bowled by Leigh Kasperek.

Shafali, who was dropped at long-on in the 8th over and at mid-wicket in the 10th over, then holed out to Jensen at deep extra cover. She had four hits to the fence and three maximum shots in her innings.

Left-handed batter Deepti Sharma (8) and Veda Krishnamurthy (6) brought up the 100 in the 15th over but both departed soon as India slumped to 104 for 6.

Radha Yadav then blasted 14 off nine balls, which included a six in the final over, to give some respectability to the total.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 28,2020

Gibraltar, Jan 28: Young Indian Grand Master R Praggnanandhaa pulled off a huge upset, beating former world champion Veselin Topalov in the sixth round of the 18th Gibraltar chess festival to record his fifth straight win here.

The 14-year-old Chennai lad needed just 33 moves to put it across the Bulgarian. He had started with a loss against compatriot P V Nandhidhaa but since then he has been on a winning spree.

Praggnanandhaa, who recently won the world under-18 title, said: "It was very tough to prepare against him."

He is in second spot on five points with six other players and will take on Chinese GM Wang Hao in the seventh round.

Seventeen-year-old Russian GM Andrey Esipenko jumped to sole lead with 5.5 points with a win over Georgia's Ivan Cheparinov

The Russian player would be unpaired in the seventh round as he decided to take a bye.

A bunch of players including Indians — B Adhiban, K Sasikiran, Shardul Gagare, Karthikeyan Murali, SL Narayanan — are in joint third place with 4.5 points.

Adhiban beat Gabriel Flom, while D Gukesh, the world's second youngest Grand Master ever, defeated Martin Percivaldi to move to four points.

Also winning were Karthikeyan Murali against Qi B Chen and Gagare over France's Maxime Lagarde.

Top-seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's moderate run continued as he was held to a draw by GM Aryan Chopra.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 13,2020

Apr 13: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir says if IPL is not played this year, it will be difficult for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to make a comeback to the Indian team.

Dhoni last played for India in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in July last year.

Since then he hasn't played any competitive cricket and legends such as Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev have already said that it's getting increasingly difficult for the Jharkhand dasher to make an international return after such a prolonged sabbatical.

He was expected to be seen in action at this year's IPL but the chances of T20 league being played are remote due to the COVID-19.

"If the IPL does not happen this year, then it will become very difficult for MS Dhoni to make a comeback. On what basis can he (Dhoni) be selected since he’s not been playing for the last one or one and a half year," Gambhir said on Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected'.

The 38-year-old Gambhir picked KL Rahul, who has been keeping in ODIs, as an "apt replacement" for Dhoni.

Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths

"Obviously his (Rahul's) keeping is not as good as Dhoni’s, but if you are looking at T20 cricket, Rahul's a utility player, can keep and bat at No. 3 or 4. If the IPL does not happen, then Dhoni’s chances for a comeback look dim.

"Ultimately, you are representing India, so whoever dishes out the best performance and can win the match for India should play for the team," added Gambhir.

The southpaw also felt that retirement was Dhoni's personal decision.

"As far as his retirement plans go by, that's his personal choice," said Gambhir.

However, his former teammate and test specialist VVS Laxman feels that Dhoni can continue playing IPL.

"Not only this IPL, he (Dhoni) will probably play in the next couple of IPLs, and then we will take a call about his future as a cricketer," Laxman said on the same show.

However, Laxman, a veteran of 134 Tests, said that the new selection committee, chaired by former spinner Sunil Joshi, will have to discuss Dhoni's future with him.

"Dhoni will be very clear, as far as his plans are concerned, I'm sure he must have communicated that with (captain) Virat Kohli, (coach) Ravi Shastri immediately after the 2019 World Cup in England," said Laxman.

"The new selection committee will have to sit down with MS Dhoni and understand his future, as far as Indian cricket is concerned. But MS Dhoni will continue to play for CSK and do well for CSK," said Laxman, who amassed 8,781 Test runs.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.