The Story
Self-realisation is part of a successful man’s journey. It is almost a necessity regardless of the field an individual is playing his cards. Kaushik Gandhi, the Tamil Nadu all-rounder, underwent a similar phase last year when he established himself as a sturdy long-format player and also a T20 cricketer. Competition is an ever-increasing factor and the relevance of underperforming names goes down almost instantly each passing season these days. Therefore, for Kaushik, the only way to stay in the reckoning is by doing justice to the talent and capability he possesses.
Success and recognition finally arrive
Gandhi rose up in the ranks after scoring 785 runs from 10 matches in the 2016 Ranji season before making a name in the inaugural edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League.
“I discovered a lot about myself during the TNPL last year. I may not be a power-hitter, but I was able to keep the strike-rate moving at a good pace and win matches for my side. TNPL gave me a lot of self-belief and I was able to build on that for the rest of the season,” Gandhi told ToI on Saturday (July 29), on the eve of Patriots’ match against Karaikudi Kaalai.
Breakthrough Season
In the opening season, He ended with 366 runs from nine games at a strike-rate of 140.76. After tasting the style of play in the longer as well as the shortest format, the 27-year-old realised the importance of being versatile as a cricketer.
He also acknowledged the role of mentors in his development. There was mainly two people involved who helped him get ready for the bigger challenges – Monty Desai, the Patriots mentor, and Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Tamil Nadu coach.
“Adapting to all formats is the key and that can only happen if you have the mindset for it. Patriots’ mentor Monty Desai provided inputs on how to play different situations in T20s and what my role in the team was,” Gandhi said. In order to be more effective in his T20 game, Gandhi worked on shots such as the uppercut and was able to execute it successfully in the matches.
“One has to constantly work on his game and that’s what I did. Only when you try new things would you know what works and what doesn’t,” Gandhi added.
“Our net sessions became more competitive because if we get out then that’s the end of it. I would get into match mode while playing at the nets. The biggest switch in my batting happened on the mental front. If I left balls outside off-stump in a first-class match, the very same deliveries would be hit for runs in a Twenty20 game. It is this switch that benefitted me,” said Gandhi, who faced 1969 balls during the last Ranji season.