Joshi thrilled at homecoming

Sunil Joshi, perhaps, was the busiest person at the KSCA-Rajnagar stadium on Sunday.

Long after the Jammu and Kashmir nets finished, a good-sized crowd remained around Joshi.

Some wanted an autograph, some wanted to pose for a photo along with him, some were his old team-mates like R Vinay Kumar, and some others came just to see an old friend, and welcome him back to a place where he grew up as a cricketer.

Joshi’s was one of the earlier tales of a small-town cricketer realising his dream of playing for India. Anyone here would eagerly offer the story of Joshi travelling 60 kms a day one-side from Gadag to Hubbali just to play cricket.

Those early hard hours had paid good dividends as Joshi went on to play 15 Tests and 69 ODIs for India, besides taking 615 first-class wickets with his left-arm spin.
Despite moving away from this part of the world, Joshi still retains the warm feelings for "his place". “It is a great feeling to see all the old faces in a different structure. It’s a great feeling to come back where you made your debut,” said Joshi, now the coach of J&K.  

“I have great memories from Hubbali. I made 86 not out on debut against a strong Hyderabad side that time. I played my cricket here at the Nehru stadium. For me, it is my hometown. The AK industries were really helpful to me during my early days. I had my coach Dayanand Shetty, who was a mentor to me and even today he is a mentor to me,” he added.

“I might now be in the opposite dressing room. But it feels nice to be back to your own place,” he noted.