Good wasn’t enough for Naman, he always thought better is possible: Sanjay Jagdale

INDORE: Some 17-18 years ago, a boy from Ratlam came to Indore with a dream of playing good competitive cricket. The boy always had that spark needed to play the top. All he needed was right guidance. Naman Ojha got plenty whenever he needed. His mentor Sanjay Jagdale has seen it all.
Jagdale spoke TOI about Ojha’s journey from Cricket Club to Indore (CCI) to playing Test cricket.
What are your first memories of Naman?
Somehow I liked his overall approach. His keenness, willingness to learn, willingness to work harder, his attitude, everything was excellent. He looked a natural striker. You feel nice seeing some youngsters and Naman was one of them. He always wanted to improve and play good competitive cricket.
Naman says if his basics are strong, it’s because of you…
I would give him different challenges so that his range could widen. For example, he was finding it hard to score towards fine leg, so I tried to cover that loophole and he quickly overcame it. As a coach, you need to throw challenges frequently so that a player improvs. If he wants to improve, he will take those challenges. Naman always does that because he wanted to get better. To say that I improved his basics won’t be correct because it was all his hardwork. Results are not in your hand but the preparations are. And that’s why he went to Pravin Amre and Kiran More for personalized coaching. I had spoken Kiran to guide him for keeping. When he doesn’t get to play cricket in Indore, he goes to Mumbai. This shows his hunger.
When did you think Naman can play for the country?
I always thought Naman was a match-winner as a batsman. The kind of shots he has and variety of strokes he has, he was always going to play for country. When he played a couple of seasons in IPL and the manner in which he scored those runs, I thought he could play for the country. The confidence he gained from playing with and against some world class players helped him a lot. When he played IPL and shared the dressing room with foreign players and some of the greats of the game, his vision widened. If you are receptive and willing to listen to experiences of senior players, you can learn a lot. Naman is typical example of how one take good things from everyone. He is very open to suggestions and if it suits him, he implements them too. He has been one of the most improved and consistent batsmen in the last five-six years. The way he performed against Australia ‘A’ was amazing. Your thoughts…
Naman took Australia ‘A’ tour as a challenge and scored against some world class bowlers, who are currently playing for Australia. To score those big runs and the manner in which they were scored was brilliant. He has scored in different conditions and against different attacks. Naman has earned all due to his performance. Whenever he was needed to raise his bar, he did that. Good players don’t bother about the selection procedure. They just keep on scoring and win matches for their team. Naman did exactly that.
What Naman’s Test debut means to MP cricket?
It’s a big thing. Last year both Naman and Ishwar were part of the Test squad in England. When two current players from same team do that, it gives confidence to others. It gives the youngsters a message that if you do well consistently and prepare to work hard, you can achieve anything. Good is not enough, better is possible. Naman is prime example of that. Even after playing Test cricket, I don’t think he will stop learning, he will try to get better.
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