INTERVIEW
Follow UsWhen the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 started, Bhargav Bhatt had already turned 34, usually considered the age where players stop being their peak selves and start moving towards the twilight of their careers.
Bhatt, though, is built differently. Having finished as the joint second-highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy 2023-24, the left-arm spinner started the ongoing season with a 10-wicket haul against Mumbai, becoming the first Baroda bowler to register five 10-wicket hauls in Ranji Trophy history.
It was also his third 10-wicket match haul in 2024, making him the only Indian bowler to register three 10-wicket hauls this year in the Ranji Trophy. At the end of the third Ranji round, Bhatt was only one of three other bowlers to have picked up 50 Ranji Trophy wickets in 2024 (excluding Plate group), with the other two being Tamil Nadu's R Sai Kishore and Maharashtra's Hitesh Walunj.
This impeccable showing by the 34-year-old had us wondering: what were the changes that propelled him to become so lethal across the last two seasons?
“In the last two or three years, I decided that I had to do something different for my team. I asked myself why I wanted to continue playing the game that I love the most. The answer I found was to win matches for my team," Bhatt told Cricket.com in an exclusive chat.
"Previously I used to be able to pitch 7-8 out of 10 balls at a place where I wanted to land them. Now, with practice, that number has gone down to 9-10 out of 10 balls. I know you can’t achieve perfection, but you can always try and get closer to it,” he said about the changes he had made in his bowling mindset to achieve the success that he is currently enjoying.
Playing for India biggest motivation
But is winning matches for Baroda the ultimate goal for the left-arm spinner? The answer was obviously no, as he wants to play for India. Even after being in the age bracket where players are usually headed towards retirement, Bhatt still dreams about that dark blue cap.
“My aim has always been to represent my country. That is my only motivation. I want to make myself that sort of a bowler who plays for India. Age is just a number, and I don’t think I have been able to unleash my true potential yet," the 34-year-old said.
"I do not think too ahead of myself. But I always believe that I can get an opportunity any time to play at the highest level, and therefore, I prepare myself with that vision in my mind,” explained the man who last month achieved the feat of 350 first-class scalps.
However, this newfound love of trying everything to get as close to playing for India as possible is not new. In his pursuit of that ultimate India cap, Bhatt, when he was 26, moved to Andhra Pradesh from Baroda to try and maximise his chances of getting noticed by the selectors.
“Actually, when I went to Andhra in 2016-17, I was quite young, you know, 26 years of age, and you want to explore opportunities where your all-round game is taken care of,” Bhatt said about his move away from Baroda.
“I practised hard only to be able to play all the matches in all of the three formats. I had already played for India A and been a member of the Kings XI Punjab team. So I wanted to be able to play all the matches and maximise my performances as a left-arm spinner,” he added.
So why did he not get a chance to represent Baroda in all the formats? Without any hard feelings, Bhatt plainly admitted that the Gujarat-based side had better limited-overs left-arm spinners.
“In Baroda, the preference for List-A and T20 was given to an all-round left-arm spinner and therefore I switched sides, there was no other reason,” he said.
Still keen on playing T20s and IPL
So is red-ball cricket the only format Bhatt wants to play? Is he not attracted towards the big-money IPL where he had relative success with Kings XI Punjab?
“It’s not like I don’t want to play T20s. I have already told my association that they can call me even a day before a T20 game. But if you ask me, my focus has always been red-ball cricket,” Bhatt, who last played a T20 in 2021, said.
“Moreover, in T20s, Baroda already has a well-established all-rounder in Krunal Pandya and another option in young Ninad Rathva in terms of left-arm spinners, who can also give runs with bat,” reasoned the bowler with experience of playing three seasons with Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
But those three seasons were at the start of his career, spanning from 2011 to 2013. Bhatt had taken 47 wickets in the 2010-11 Ranji Trophy, his best-ever performance in a single season to date, to force his way into the India A team that played against a touring West Indies side and into the Kings XI for the IPL.
But things didn’t turn out well for Bhatt, who injured himself in 2014 and could not play IPL again. Did he try to be at least a net bowler or go for trials?
“I made it clear that since I have already played the IPL, I cannot be a net bowler anymore. I have never gone for trials either. Yes, I am always open to an opportunity to be part of any squad,” explained the 34-year-old.
With 15 wickets in the first three matches of the season and a 10-wicket haul already to his name, the veteran would be hoping for yet another big Ranji Trophy to try and get as close to his India dream as possible.
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