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Sairaj Bahutule : Leading from the Front |
A feature by Venkat,
published on December 25, 2004
 In
the record books, his name would appear in the
wrong end of the historic scorecard which
featured the 664 run partnership between
Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli. But as time
moved on, he went on to join the two Mumbai
greats in the Ranji team. Over the years, Mumbai
cricket has been credited for producing players
who show immense commitment and dedication to
the game, and such are the qualities that are
found within one of the modern Mumbai greats -
Sairaj Bahutule. The 31-year old, since the last
season has been the captain of the Mumbai team
and also has been entrusted with the duties of
leading the West Zone and the India A teams
since 2003.
Sairaj made his debut 12 years ago (1991-92)
season as an 18 year old for Mumbai against
Gujarat at Surat where he picked up 4 wickets.
Since then the talented leg spinner has never
looked back. Having played 129 matches, Sairaj
has a tally of 476 wickets and going strong,
most of which have spun Mumbai to convincing
wins. It took him just two more seasons from his
Ranji debut to be picked for the West Zone and
made his debut against the Central Zone at
Mumbai in 1993-94. His impressive bowling spells
for both Mumbai and the West Zone earned him a
place in the India A side, for which he first
played in the 1994/95 season against the
visiting England A. That was perhaps the turning
point of Sairaj's career for Mumbai. He started
picking more and more wickets for the teams he
played and with each season, the man got better
with experience. Sairaj can be termed as a
cricketer who enjoys his game, which is one of
the reasons why he turns up to play for his club
- MIG Cricket Club and his employers BPCL in the
local cricket leagues of Mumbai whenever he is
not on Mumbai or India A duty and like many of
his Mumbai colleagues, he also plays club
cricket in England during the Indian off-season.
In 1997, the reward for all the hard work he put
in finally paid off as he got to don the Indian
cap for the first time in One Day Internationals
against Sri Lanka at Guwahati. He was in a way a
regular in the ODI side until he got dropped
after the Bangladesh
Independence Cup in 1998. Here is where Sairaj's
commitment comes into picture. He returned to
playing in the Domestic Circuit with an aim to
get where he temporarily belonged -
International Cricket. As the commitment and
dedication to his cricket got stronger and
stronger, so did the performances. His post-1998
stats are an amazing tribute to a man who never
gave up to play for India. He finally earned his
Test cap against the Aussies in the historic
series of 2001, where his contribution with the
bat (he made 21) will be most remembered by
Indian fans. He also played another test against
the Sri Lankans at Colombo. It is quite
unfortunate that a man with such talent and
ability could not represent the country anymore.
But as said before, he is a man who never gives
up and as he is peaking and maturing in his
cricketing career, a Test recall cannot be ruled
out. He is still often being "discussed" by the
selectors only to the fact that his name doesn't
appear in the final list, and that's quite sad.
Sairaj has often been criticized for being a
"predictable" bowler. This is a tag that he has
always been carrying through his career, but
as he has progressed as a cricketer, his
predictability is soon becoming an unpredictable
factor i.e. the variations are soon forming a
part of his armoury. Sairaj is a dependable
batsman too. His rear guard knocks have been a
crucial contributor in Mumbai's re-emergence as
a Champion side over the past two years,
especially when the top order failed to make an
impact. He will be best remembered for his
captain's knock of 92, which was an important
factor in Mumbai gaining the Ranji Trophy finals
of 2003/04 against Tamil Nadu at Chennai. Sairaj
has thus far made 7 centuries in the 129 matches
at a good average of 31 and looks good for many
more.
They say that captains are not born, but are
created and this holds true for the Mumbai and
India A skipper. He took over the captaincy
from Paras Mhambrey in 2003 and also with it the
legacy of Mumbai cricket to new days of high.
Sairaj has emerged to be one of the more
successful India A captains in recent times and
a testament to that fact is the recent win of
the Tri-Nations trophy in Kenya involving
Pakistan A. He also guided India A to emphatic
wins in Zimbabwe. His captaincy has also evolved
and improved with every match he's led and one
can certainly feel that the best is yet to come.
I would like to describe him as a player's
captain, as we have seen many a player's
fortunes being opened under his leadership.
If anyone deserves to play more for India than
he has done, its Sairaj Bahutule. But like many
other "fringe" players, all he can do is to keep
picking wickets for Mumbai and West Zone and
hope that the selectors notice his performances.
Sairaj is leading a side, that
could possibly win a hat-trick of Ranji
Trophies, and if it happens, it will be a
tribute to a man who defines commitment,
discipline and
dedication in whatever he does.
On behalf of Cricketfundas.com, I would like to
wish Sai all the best for the present Ranji
Trophy matches and hope that he gets yet another
chance if not chances to play for India.
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