Cricket: Vadodara
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Siblings, pears
As in 2022
Tushar Tere, Sep 11, 2022: The Times of India
When Hardik Pandya took India to victory against archrivals Pakistan by smashing a six in the Asia Cup, his brother Krunal, also an India cricketer, was beaming with pride. But he wasn’t surprised as he has seen Hardik belting bowlers from the other end of the wicket for years. While the Pandya siblings have played together for Team Baroda and also carved a special place in the national team, few outside Vadodara know the city has produced nine pairs of top-class cricket siblings. It is probably the only city across the globe to have so many pairs of cricketing brothers. India’s legendary cricketer Vijay Hazare and his brother Vivek played Ranji for Baroda in the 1940s. Leslie Fernandes and his brother AnthonyFernandes too played for Baroda in the 1970s. And Vikram Hazare and his elder brother Ranjit were part of the Ranji squad from 1972 to 1983. In more recent years the name that comes up first is the Pathan brothers. While Irfan Pathan made his first-class debut in 2000, Yusuf got into the Ranji squad in 2001. They were among the rare pairs of cricketing brothers to earn international fame. Both trained at Me-hendi Sheikh’s club and then got into the Baroda Ranji team as well. The Pathan brothers also played for India in the T20 World Cup in 2007 and 2009. They say they were always comfortable playing together as they knew each other’s game.
Of the Pandya brothers, Hardik got into the Baroda Ranji squad in 2013 and then played for India in 2016. Krunal followed him into the Indian team in 2018. They are also part of the IPLand have played against each other in a few matches. Another notable pair is brothers Kedar and Mrunal Devdhar who have played together for the Baroda team. Kedar, who has aptained the Baroda Ranji squad, says Mrunal and he played together at club-level too.
“We share a very good bond, both on-field as well as off the field. There is a different level of comfort while playing together as we have grown up together,” Kedar told TOI. In 2017, Vadodara twins Saurin and Smit Thakkar drew attention in the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy.
They look so similar that the opponent teams often mistook one for the other. Now 23, Saurin plays in the Baroda under-25 team while Smit is in the under-23 team. “It’s fun some times to see the opponents confused. But we enjoy our outings together on the field,” Saurin told TOI. India cricketer Deepak Hooda and his brother Ashish also played crick-et in Vadodara before Ashish quit the sport about five years ago. Deepak went on to play for the Baroda Ranji team before shifting to the Rajasthan team. Former India cricketer Kiran More, a Barodian, sees star cricket siblings as a unique Vadodara phenomenon. “I think it’s more about the sporting culture of this city. When one sibling began playing cricket, the other too got drawn into it.
Plus, they got more opportunities due to the club culture. ” Ex-India cricketer and former national team coach Anshuman Gaekwad agrees with him about the club culture and adds, “Opportunities here are better and it is also easier for siblings to travel together in this small city and play cricket together. ” His sons, Shatrunjay and Aniruddha Gaekwad, started playing club cricket together in Vadodara in the 1990s.
They also played together in the M S University team but Aniruddha decided to focus on his academics later. Shatrunjay, on the other hand, pursued cricket and played for the Baroda Ranji team. “The attachment to cricket is tremendous in this city. I grew up hearing about and learning cricket from my father Dattajirao Gaekwad, who was a test player. My sons too grew up in the same atmosphere and fell in love with the sport as we discussed cricket all the time,” Anshuman says.
