Journeyman Dheeraj Jadhav all set for a Goan adventure

The rich history of Indian cricket is replete with the greats of the game like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Vijay Hazare, Kapil Dev, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and many more, but the vastness and depth of the game in the country can be assessed by the facts that for every Sachin Tendulkar there have been many Amol Majumdars, and for every Anil Kumble there have been many Rajinder Goels.Players like Wasim Jaffer, Sairaj Bahutule, Raghu Ram Bhatt, Hrishikesh Kanitkar might not feature in the list of the greats of the game, but they sure are stalwarts who have played an instrumental role in taking Indian cricket forward, by toiling hard, motivating and mentoring youngsters at the domestic level.
One such name in that long illustrious list of stalwarts is Dheeraj Jadhav. Now 36, the Maharastrian was, and still is, one of the most prolific run-getters in the domestic circuit (7386 runs in First-Class cricket from 103 matches). Opener by trade, Jadhav amassed 2,890 runs in his first 35 matches to knock the doors for national selection and even though he made it to the Indian squad for the fourth and the final Test during Australia's tour of India in 2004, Jadhav never donned the Indian colours.
Repeatedly ignored by the selectors after that, Jadhav joined ICL (Indian Cricket League), before becoming a professional, taking Assam to newer heights. Last season, under the leadership of Jadhav, Assam made it to the semi-finals of Ranji Trophy losing to eventual winners Karnataka, and as Assam prepares themselves for a tough season in Group B, journeyman Jadhav is all set to embark on another chapter in his cricket career with his former Maharashtra team-mate, Kanitkar, as captain of the Goa cricket team.
TOI sports caught up with the veteran player to talk about his new team, what it meant to take Assam to the knockouts last year, his career and the drive that keeps him going.
Excerpts:
Why did you move to a Group C team like Goa, after successful run with Assam last year, taking the team to the semi-finals, and they will be playing in a higher Group this season?
I moved out of Assam because of family reasons. I wanted to play closer to my home at Pune. I have been playing in Assam for the last six years and it was very difficult for me to travel home during the season. In fact, last season itself I was looking to move out, but the Assam management requested me to stay for one more season. I was approached by Vidarbha and Himachal.
But, I took it as a challenge to take Assam to the elite group. They gave me the opportunity to play as a professional and I wanted to give something back to Assam cricket and I am really happy that I was able to do that last season.
You were the captain of the Assam team, now you have similar role in Goa and you have your former team-mate Hrishikesh Kanitkar for company. How has been the preparation and what are your expectations this year?
We had a training camp in Goa last month. Kanitkar as a coach is very comfortable and has a free mind. I always believe a coach's approach towards the game should be a relaxed one. We have played together a lot for Maharashtra and we won the plate championship when he was the captain and hopefully with Goa as well we both can work together and take the team forward.
I have played against Goa a lot so I know their strong point and were they lack. I see a lot of talent, a lot of potential in the Goa players. If I compare them to players from Assam, they are definitely more talented, but the local players in Assam were very hard working and listened to their coaches, listened to me as their captain and did everything that was asked off them and the results are for them to see. And if I can recreate that in the Goa setup I sure you that the team will do good. We have good players in the experienced Swapnil Asnodkar and Shadab Jakati. Shagun Kamat did well last year, so did Dashan Misal.
Assam's was a fairytale story last season and you as can captain had a lot to do with that. How did you make it happen?
It was a long process. I was playing there for the last five years, and though I was performing individually, there was no team goal, or challenging role for me. If you play in elite group you get good exposure, you get good opponents to play against, and once you score against good opponents, it is a satisfactory thing. Right from the start I told the players to play basic cricket well. That is the key for smaller teams. Big team aim to take full points against weaker teams, and if we play the basics right as a team we can put up a solid fight. I asked the batsmen to give me 30-40 runs, I asked the bowlers to give me good balls consistently and the runs and wicket will follow and we just repeated that last season.
With Goa too, I will have the same approach because Goa also are the underdogs in Group C, similar to how Assam was last year.
After debuting in 1999-00, you are entering your 16th year as a cricket player. How did this journey start?
I started playing for my club in Pune, Club of Maharashtra. I was watching all the players on the television. My idol was Sourav Ganguly. I liked the way he batted. I got a chance to play for Maharashtra under-19 team in the Cooch Behar Trophy and then went on to debut against Mumbai, and scored 60 on in that match.
Sanjay Manjerekar then approached me for a job in Air India, and I still play for them. After six years with Maharashtra I got myself into the Indian team. Former state captain Milind Gunjal helped me a lot. Then there was Paras Mhambrey. We won the Plate championships when Kanitkar was the captain. They always advised at the right time and helped me build my career.
2003-04 season was huge for you as you scored over 1000 runs in the season, and that fast-tracked to you in to national reckoning.
It is like I knew that the Indian team was always looking for openers at that time too, and that was how I was picked in the squad. But, unfortunately I could not make it to the first eleven. My goal was to always to focus on the longer format for the game and persevere.

Repeatedly ignored by national selectors, Jadhav joined Indian Cricket League in 2007. (TOI Photo)
By 2007 you joined the now-defunct ICL (Indian Cricket League) and then you shifted to Assam. What circumstances led you to take these decisions?
I was dropped from Maharashtra one-day side in 2006-07 season and I missed out on Deodhar Trophy and the Challenger as well. So automatically my chances to get into Indian team again were reduced so I was frustrated at that time. I did not know what to do and that was the time ICL was launched.
A lot of big names were there and Sandeep Patil was there he told me you have to perform anywhere, so same is the case here, if you play ICL you will have to perform and that was the mindset I had. But ICL stopped, and then approached me that the need a batsman, so things went in the right direction and maybe I was lucky enough to comeback in to BCCI fold. I am thankful to Assam cricket that they gave me the chance to play for six seasons, and this is not a small thing because if you for other states you are the responsible person. And if results don't come they won't blame the local players, they will point fingers at us so it was a big challenge every year.
Looking back at your career, are you satisfied with what you achieved?
There is no such thing as satisfactory in my life. When I started playing club cricket I never thought that I will be able to share the dressing room with Sachin (Tendulkar), Ganguly or (Virender) Sehwag but I did that. It is an achievement for me. But the other side of the coin is that I didn't get a chance to play a Test match for India, but that is how life is. There is a lot to improve in my game as a captain as a player.
What keeps you motivated to do this over and over again?
Cricket is my passion and I just want to say at age is just a number. Sachin played till 40, (Anil) Kumble played till 38, (Rahul) Dravid the same, so it is all about passion and as long as you are playing sincerely, doing your hard work, following your routine from day one to the last ball of the game you would be fine. I don't think age matters as long as you are contributing for the team, you just keep playing, keeping scoring and motivate others.